Editorials

Tuesday, April 9, 1996

Deception is illegal for
givers and takers

Wily contributors to political campaigns can circumvent donation limits by funneling legal amounts through numerous employees or associates posing as individual donors. These donors are either advanced the money or are reimbursed later. That practice, however, violates Hawaii's campaign spending law, as does the solicitation of such contributions.

The state Campaign Spending Commission is investigating allegations that three companies associated with Realtor Mike McCormack funneled excess contributions to the 1994 gubernatorial campaign of Frank Fasi and the mayoral campaign of Jeremy Harris. Commission Executive Director Robert Watada has emphasized that neither Fasi's nor Harris' fund-raising organization is being investigated, while the contributing companies are. Why the double standard - except that it's easier to track down the signature on the bottom of the check?

The investigation may have been triggered by a former McCormack employee, who said he was inflamed when a city department director in Fasi's administration solicited a contribution that would have exceeded the legal limit of $2,000 from an individual donor. Meanwhile, 10 McCormack employees ended up giving $2,000 each to the Harris campaign, logged on the same day in January

1994. The commission has subpoenaed records that would reflect any company payments or reimbursements to those employees during that period.

Firms that do business with the city or state are known to be heavy contributors to political candidates, the rules on spending limits notwithstanding. McCormack, the general partner in the Harbor Court luxury condominium project downtown on Nimitz Highway, certainly fits that classification.

But why is only the contributor - and not the solicitor of the contribution - going to end up in hot water? Political candidates and their campaign committees are forbidden by law from knowingly accepting contributions "in a name other than the true name of the person who actually furnished the contribution." Since that is what allegedly happened in the case of the McCormack-related contributions, those donations should be investigated from both the giving and receiving end.


Other editorials, in brief:

Milton Holt's jolt

When it comes to predictability, state Sen. Milton Holt doesn't know the meaning of the word. That predilection popped up again last week, when the Consumer Protection chairman acted on two measures outside his direct jurisdiction - same-sex marriage and smoking by minors. Holt's unpredictability in the process known as open government warrants careful and continued scrutiny, not only by the public and the media, but by his peers in the state Senate.


An appealing idea

Western Republicans have backed away from their proposal to split the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Hawaii, and instead have approved the creation of a commission to study the federal appellate court system. Fracturing the 9th Circuit prior to conducting such a study would have been a mistake.





Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership

Rupert E. Phillips,CEO

John M. Flanagan,Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro,Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang,Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner,Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser,Contributing Editor



Text Site Directory: [News] [Business] [Features] [Sports] [Editorial] [Community] [Info] [Stylebook] [Feedback]