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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, December 17, 2009

Pine pays $1,000 fine for ethics infraction


Advertiser Staff

State Rep. Kymberly Pine, R-43rd (çEwa Beach, Iroquois Point, Puçuloa), agreed on Tuesday to pay a $1,000 fine to settle an ethics charge for improperly using state resources for her re-election campaign last year.

Pine stopped by Campbell High School last October with two campaign signs and took photographs with teachers. A teacher, according to the settlement agreement, asked a student to take pictures.
The student used a digital camera owned by the school and downloaded the photos on a school computer. The student e-mailed the photos to Pine.
Under the fair treatment section of state ethics law, lawmakers and state employees are not allowed to use state time, equipment or other facilities for private business purposes, including political campaigns.
Pine, in a statement Thursday, said she never used the photographs in any campaign material. She described the ethics charge as a technical violation.
Pine said she waived her right to challenge the charge because she believes it is “important for Hawaii leaders to be held to the highest of standards even when violations are not intentional.”