DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM City Corporation Counsel David Arakawa headed down the corridor at Circuit Court to attend today's grand jury hearing.

Harris jury
begins inquiry

Several of the mayor’s department
heads appear as the probe into
the 2000 political campaign begins

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By Rick Daysog and Gordon Y.K. Pang
rdaysog@starbulletin.com
gpang@starbulletin.com

Current and former department directors under Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris were among the first to appear this morning before an Oahu grand jury investigating the mayor's 2000 political campaign.

City Corporation Counsel David Arakawa, arriving at Circuit Court shortly after 8 a.m., said he and others in the Harris administration have cooperated fully with law enforcement authorities.

"We're confident everything will come out OK," said Arakawa, the city's highest appointed civil attorney.

Shortly afterward, city Design and Construction Director Rae Loui and former Budget Director Caroll Takahashi were escorted by Deputy Corporation Counsel Gary Takeuchi into a side entrance leading to the grand jury room, thus avoiding the clamor of reporters and cameras at the front entrance to the room.

Also appearing this morning were former Budget Director Roy Amemiya and Chris Parson, an attorney for the Harris campaign and former assistant corporation counsel. Parson said he was appearing on behalf of the Harris campaign.

The investigative jury, a 13-member secret panel led by City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, has subpoenaed not only several current and former department heads, but also executives of several architecture, engineering and construction firms that receive city work.

The grand jury also has subpoenaed officers of R.M. Towill Corp. and Park Engineering.

The panel did not issue a subpoena to Harris.

Harris -- who had been the Democratic front-runner for this year's governor's race before he dropped out May 30 -- has denied wrongdoing.

William McCorriston, an attorney for the Harris campaign, believes the grand jury will find no instance where contractors were required to give political contributions in exchange for city work.

He said the Harris administration was the first in the state to set up a special committee to review city projects and to prevent politics from influencing contract awards. The grand jury has subpoenaed members of that city committee to testify this morning.

"I think it's the first time that a city administration tried to build a system that was influence-free in the awarding of contracts," McCorriston said.

"It's my understanding their testimony will be that there was no quid pro quo between contracts and political contributions."

Attorneys for several contractors told the Star-Bulletin that subpoenas were issued for an investigative grand jury and not an indicting grand jury. Prosecutors generally rely on investigative grand juries to obtain and preserve sworn testimony and to gather additional information for an ongoing criminal investigation.

Such grand juries typically do not issue indictments for criminal charges, but can if the evidence warrants it.

The grand jury comes after nine months of investigation by Carlisle's office. In January the prosecutor's office received a complaint for a criminal referral from the state Campaign Spending Commission, which alleged that the Harris campaign booked political contributions under false names.

Carlisle's office has declined comment on the status of its investigation. But the Star-Bulletin reported last month that prosecutors were examining the Harris administration's development of the $23 million Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex. One month before the city awarded a $2.5 million architectural contract to a consulting team lead by Stringer Tusher Architects, mainland residents linked to Stringer Tusher's president sent more than $20,000 in political contributions to the Harris campaign.

Carlisle's office also is investigating two nonprofit organizations, the Environmental Foundation and the Friends of the City and County of Honolulu, which are headed by Harris campaign official Peter Char.

The tax-exempt groups received more than $170,000 in donations from companies that receive millions of dollars in work from the city.