Dem campaign Political donors linked to one of Hawaii's largest engineering firms have poured nearly $200,000 into the campaign coffers of several prominent isle Democrats, according to a computer-assisted study by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
funds linked to isle
engineering company
Relatives of SSFM International Inc.
executives gave nearly $200,000
to prominent candidatesBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comSince 1996, relatives of SSFM International Inc. executives have made nearly five dozen political contributions totaling $198,050 to the campaigns of Gov. Ben Cayetano, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana.
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Harris collected about half the amount, or $92,500, while Cayetano's 1998 re-election campaign received more than $71,000 from people linked to SSFM. Apana raised about $30,000, while Hirono took in $4,050 from the same group of people.SSFM said it had no involvement in the contributions and did not reimburse any of the donors.
State lawmakers are considering a measure that would ban companies such as SSFM from making contributions to politicians who have awarded them government contracts.
Contributions linked to SSFM rival the $244,000 that another local contractor, Geolabs Inc., gave to isle Democrats. In January, the state Campaign Spending Commission fined Geolabs a record $64,000 after it found that $124,000 of its contributions were illegal.
SSFM has attracted the attention of the commission, which has interviewed several donors and subpoenaed many of their bank records.
Bob Watada, the commission's executive director, declined comment on his office's investigation. But people familiar with his inquiry said the commission is looking into whether any of the contributions were made under false names in an attempt to circumvent state campaign donation limits.
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Under state law, an individual or business can give no more than $4,000 to a single mayoral candidate during a four-year election cycle. For the governor's race, the legal limit is $6,000."The operative question is, are they giving in the name of someone else?" said Larry Makinson, senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., organization that researches money in politics. "At the local level, that's a serious amount of money."
Most of the donors contacted by the Star-Bulletin declined comment, but several said they used their own money. Some said relatives at SSFM asked them to give money to selected candidates.
An examination of the lawmakers' campaign records suggests that the contributions were part of a coordinated effort:
>> A majority of the checks were sent to the campaigns on the same dates and several of the donors listed the same address for their residence.Much of the giving focused on Harris, whose administration has given SSFM nearly $4 million in nonbid engineering and consulting work since 1996, according to city records.>> All but $500 of the $198,050 raised by the donors went to Democrats, whose administrations have awarded the firms millions of dollars in state and city contracts.
The work includes the construction management and consulting contracts for the city's $55 million Central Oahu Regional Park and the $15.1 million Kuhio Beach widening project.
An examination of Harris' campaign records shows that relatives of SSFM's officers made 24 contributions to the mayor's campaign starting in 1996. A total of nine $4,000 contributions showed up on two days -- Nov. 20 and 21, 1997 -- including:
>> Two $4,000 contributions from SSFM Chief Executive Officer Michael Matsumoto's brother and sister-in-law, Dennis and Susan Matsumoto.Dennis Matsumoto and George Nakamoto said they used their own money when they contributed to the campaigns. Kazue Takushi declined comment, and the Moriyamas and Tsuji could not be reached for immediate response.>> A $4,000 donation from Kazue Takushi, the mother of SSFM Vice President Lee Takushi.
>> Two $4,000 contributions from Joyce Moriyama and Kiyoko Moriyama, who are related to Lee Takushi's wife.
>> Another $4,000 contribution from a Matsue Tsuji, who is related to Takushi and listed the same Manoa address as the Moriyamas.
>> The Harris campaign also received $4,000 contributions from Takushi's uncle George Nakamoto and Takushi's grandmother Umeko Nakamoto.
>> SSFM's chief Mike Matsumoto's mother, Mitsuno Matsumoto, also contributed $4,000 on Nov. 21, 1997.
Umeko Nakamoto died on Jan. 17, and Mitsuno Matsumoto died Aug. 7, 1998.
SSFM's Lee Takushi said he asked several of his relatives to help several candidates. But he stressed that none of the donors were reimbursed by SSFM.
The contributions also were not linked to any business that his company received from the city, he said.
A Harris spokeswoman declined comment. Harris, who is running for governor this year as a Democrat, has said in the past that the campaign has done nothing illegal. Harris officials also denied any connection between political contributions and the awarding of city contracts.
Founded in 1959, SSFM is the state's fourth-largest engineering firm behind R.M. Towill Corp., Earth Tech Inc. and GMP Hawaii Inc. For 2000, the company's revenues totaled $9.5 million. It has 130 employees.
SSFM's management roster underscores its cozy relationship with state and city officials.
Former state Comptroller Raymond Sato joined SSFM last year as vice president of its Kauai operations. Former Maui Public Works Director George Kaya heads the company's operations on the Valley Isle, and ex-Big Island Public Works Director Hugh Ono is vice president of the firm's operations in Hawaii County.
Mike Matsumoto said the managers were not hired for their political connections but for their well-rounded experience and their integrity.
"If you look at these individuals, you see people with broad backgrounds and extremely good reputations in the community," he said.
In addition to city projects, the firm has received a number of major state projects during the years.
Since 1996, the state Department of Accounting and General Services said it had awarded the SSFM firm about $729,532 in consulting work, including a $100,000 contract to manage several University of Hawaii construction projects.
Between 1984 and 1991, SSFM served as the project manager for the $55 million contract to repair rust damage to the Aloha Stadium. It also served as the project manager for the $203 million Kahului International Airport redevelopment project.
Relatives of SSFM's officers contributed more than $71,000 to Cayetano's 1998 re-election campaign.
On one day -- April 22, 1997 -- people linked to SSFM gave the Cayetano campaign 10 checks totaling $50,000.
A former Cayetano campaign official said she was unaware of any campaign contributions linked to the SSFM firm. She added that Cayetano does not get involved in the awarding state contracts and that contributions play no role in the awarding of contracts.
People linked to SSFM also opened their wallets to Maui Mayor Apana's campaign. For instance, during the four-day period ending April 30, 2001, relatives of Lee Takushi gave Apana's campaign a total of $17,000.
On Maui, the firm is involved in various Department of Water Supply projects. It also served as the chief consultant for the Po'opo'o Bridge renovation project in Kaupo.
Since 1998, the firm has been paid $776,000 by Maui County, according to the Maui News.
Apana said he does not know any of the donors with links to SSFM. He said he only became aware of their contributions last year when they were pointed out to him by the Campaign Spending Commission.
Apana added that he is not personally involved in raising funds for his campaign and does not get involved in awarding county contracts.
And while he has not followed the campaign finance reform debate in the state capitol, Apana said that he would support any legislation that would effectively reform the state's campaign finance system.
"In general, I'm in support of anything that would clean up the system," he said.