Retain security firm
during transitionThe issue: The company that screened
bags for the hijacked flights that hit the
World Trade Center wants the same
job in Honolulu.WHY any company would want to inherit the final messy year of private baggage screening at Honolulu International Airport is beyond comprehension. It takes a glutton for ridicule for a company roundly criticized at other airports to seek expansion to Honolulu -- replacing a smaller company gone bankrupt after absorbing similar knocks -- before federal employees prepare to take control.
Finding a good reason to hire Argenbright Security Inc. is as challenging as trying to find a nail clipper in an X-ray full of clutter. The airlines in Hawaii would do well to wave Argenbright an aloha farewell rather than change nags at mid-stream.
Argenbright is part of Securicor Plc, a conglomerate in Britain that serves admirably at European airports. Its inferior performance in the U.S. can be attributed to airline consortiums entertaining low bids from security companies that pay employees barely more than minimum wages.
Argenbright has drawn attention less for the fact that it is the nation's largest airport security company than for its operations at Boston's Logan Airport, the take-off point for the two hijacked flights that crashed into the World Trade Center. Argenbright's chief executive was fired a month ago after a Nepalese slipped by a screening area at Chicago's O'Hare Airport with a stun gun and several knives in his carry-on luggage.
Argenbright was licensed Wednesday to provide security in Hawaii, and a company official confirmed it wants to provide airport security services here. Two days later the company was barred from screening baggage at Boston's airport beginning Dec. 14.
Just after the terrorist attack of September 11, Ohio-based International Total Services Inc., which provides security at Honolulu Airport, filed for bankruptcy protection. A former employee said the company was so lax at the airport that dangerous material flowed undetected through its checkpoints.
Within the next year, federal employees will take charge of the operation under the aviation security measure that President Bush signed into law last month.
Joe Guyton, security coordinator for the airlines' Hawaii consortium, says he has "a concern" about the prospect of Argenbright taking over the job, if only for the transition to federal control. That concern is warranted regardless of which private company is assigned the job.
’Tis the season for
political scrutinyThe issue: The Campaign Spending
Commission has served notice on candidates
to follow the letter of the law.Political candidates should mind their P's and Q's as the election season reaches full bloom in Hawaii. The state Campaign Spending Commission and its executive director, Robert Watada, have indicated they are keeping close watch on how candidates are raising and disbursing money.
The commission and Watada are displaying an aggressive attitude that many political appointees would consider risky. The commission, however, was set up with the supposed independence needed to resist political pressure. Nevertheless, if they don't watch themselves, the commission and director will be vulnerable to charges of favoritism, as was leveled last week against Watada by Mayor Jeremy Harris.
Earlier this month, five companies and individuals who contributed beyond the legal limit to Harris' mayoral campaign reached settlements with the commission that resulted in fines. Harris was told to turn over the excess donations to the Hawaii Election Campaign. The mayor, who is running for governor, faces investigation of 60 other donations that may have been unlawful.
The inquiry prompted Harris to accuse Watada of "a political vendetta," saying that Watada was once a volunteer for Mufi Hannemann, whom Harris opposed in his bid for mayor last year. The charge seems illogical since Hannemann is not in the gubernatorial race and Watada's sideline involvement with him was 15 years ago when Hannemann was running for Congress. However, political memories can be long-lasting, and it behooves Watada and commission members to avoid even the appearance of involvement.
Meanwhile, the commission has prudently clarified for candidates the limitations of campaign fund use. The clarification comes after City Council chairman Jon Yoshimura, a candidate for lieutenant governor, was fined $3,500 when the commission questioned his use of campaign funds to pay his fee to join a golf tournament, parking tickets and tuxedo rentals.
Between now and November, the commission and Watada will have a full measure of work as almost every elective office is up for grabs. Armed with a new computer that can pinpoint excessive donations, it can more closely ride herd on candidates.
As commission member A. Duane Black says, candidates "have to realize that they are going to have to follow the rules." Indeed.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comRichard Halloran, editorial page director, 529-4790; rhalloran@starbulletin.com
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