Hawai'i Tourism Authority CEO Rex Johnson e-mailed racist and sexist jokes about Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton using his state computer.

The tourism authority board disciplined Johnson last month for using his state computer to e-mail pornographic material, but the board did not mention that Johnson also e-mailed racist and sexist jokes.

The Advertiser requested Johnson's e-mails on Aug. 7 using the state's open records law. A review of more than 600 e-mails found that the head of the state's tourism marketing agency received and forwarded several messages containing comments and photos denigrating African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and women.

While Johnson was not the original author of the e-mails, he sent the messages to about half a dozen of his friends on the Mainland and one in Hawai'i, often including the greeting "FYI" or "Aloha, Rex."

For example, a March 22 e-mail forwarded by Johnson referred to Obama as a "coon" and Clinton as a "beaver."

In a telephone interview yesterday, Johnson said he has already apologized for his inappropriate e-mails and agreed not to repeat them.

Johnson said the racist and sexist e-mails were sent to his computer, and he "may have read them" before forwarding them to friends. He declined further comment.

Local civil rights attorney Daphne Barbee-Wooten said Johnson should apologize for the latest e-mails and should resign.

Barbee-Wooten, a former trial attorney for the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, said sending and forwarding such e-mails is "unacceptable behavior" for the head of a state agency charged with marketing Hawai'i's tourism industry.

Barbee-Wooten said HTA's board faces a huge problem if they were aware of the racist content in Johnson's computer. If they weren't aware of the e-mails, their inquiry into Johnson's conduct wasn't thorough enough, she said.

"How can they tolerate this racist and sexist bigotry," she said.

"This is disgusting. ... It's a tragedy that people still have this type of mentality."

HTA Chairman Kelvin Bloom was traveling yesterday and could not be reached for comment. Sharon Weiner, the HTA's vice chair, declined comment.

Johnson joined the HTA in 2002. He came to the HTA after serving as the executive director of the Hawaii Nature Conservancy. He also is a former director of the state Department of Transportation and headed the Hawai'i Community Development Authority.

ADULT-CONTENT E-MAILS

The sexist and racist e-mails add more fuel to the controversy over HTA's handling of Johnson.

State Auditor Marion Higa found more than 23 e-mails containing adult content on Johnson's state computer in the course of an ongoing investigation of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, which oversees HTA.

The adult-content e-mails were among the 708 electronic messages sent and received by Johnson from Feb. 28 to April 29 that were reviewed by Higa.

In a June 25 letter to Gov. Linda Lingle, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and House Speaker Calvin Say, Higa stated: "The e-mails contained X-rated movie clips, slide shows and photographs of adult nudity."

Higa's letter made no mention of racist e-mails on Johnson's computer.

HTA's board spent at least three weeks deliberating whether to keep Johnson or seek his resignation. Board members looked at testimony from more than 50 people on the matter and held a 6 1/2-hour, closed-door meeting on Aug. 12 to discuss it.

On Aug. 21, the HTA's board voted unanimously to keep Johnson but reduced his annual pay from $240,000 to $200,000 and reduced his four-year contract to one year.

The Advertiser obtained Johnson's e-mails after filing a request under the state's Uniform Information Practices Act. The request asked for Johnson's e-mails for the past 12 months.

REVIEW OF MESSAGES

On Tuesday, the DBEDT, which oversees the HTA and manages its computers, provided The Advertiser with a CD containing about 680 of Johnson's e-mails sent and received on Johnson's computer between Feb. 29 and April 29.

The CD did not include the 23 pornographic e-mails cited by Higa.

But the state did provide paper copies of about 33 e-mails, of which six e-mails contained adult-content subject lines.

The state did not provide the links or copies of the attached videos or photos and The Advertiser did not review the adult content.

DBEDT officials did not provide reasons for withholding or redacting any of the records requested by The Advertiser. But in an Aug. 19 notice to The Advertiser, the state said it plans to disclose the records in increments because the requested documents are voluminous.

Of the e-mails reviewed by The Advertiser, about 140 appeared to be personal in nature. More than 70 of the messages involved jokes passed between Johnson and his friends on the Mainland and Hawai'i while more than 60 involved other personal issues such as the arrangements for Mainland vacations.

About five e-mails had a racist message.

In addition to the messages about Obama and Clinton, Johnson forwarded an e-mail on March 3 to eight of his friends that included a video of a Caucasian truck driver who uses an ethnic slur for Hispanics several times.

The driver picks up six undocumented workers under the guise of providing them with work only to leave them at the Los Angeles County Immigration Office.

Keith Vieira, Starwood Hotels senior vice president and director of operations, said the e-mails are a "concern."

"Anytime you weigh into racial areas, there are many people who are not going to find it funny," Vieira said.

"There are many people who are going to find it offensive."