Yim destroyed files
on Kamehameha

The court-appointed fact finder
has said he wanted to protect the
anonymity of his sources

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

Court-appointed fact finder Patrick Yim told the state that he destroyed his files of interviews with Kamehameha Schools staffers, which were the basis for his highly critical report on the management of the Kapalama Heights campus.

A spokesman for one of the trustees said the destruction casts doubt on the credibility of the Yim report.

During a meeting in Judge Colleen Hirai's chambers a month ago, Yim told estate attorneys and lawyers with the attorney general's office that he destroyed the files to preserve the confidentiality of the people he had interviewed for his report, said Deputy Attorney General Kevin Wakayama.

Staffers and faculty members say they have been reluctant to criticize trustees out of fear of retribution. Wakayama said that Yim felt strongly that it was part of his duty as fact finder to preserve their confidentiality.

Yim could not be reached for immediate response, and an estate spokesman had no comment.

The Yim report recommended that Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey step down as lead trustee for the estate's educational programs, saying she managed by intimidation and fostered a climate of favoritism.

Doug Carlson, spokesman for Lindsey, has criticized the Yim report as flawed, focusing on unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo. Yim's destruction of the evidence makes it impossible to check if any of his conclusions are valid, Carlson said.

"This bizarre development is one more reason to cast doubt on the credibility of the fact finder's report," Carlson said.

"Unfortunately, all he did is report on the controversy, which amounts to back-biting, rumor mongering and innuendo spreading."

The attorney general's office said its investigation into the estate is independent of Yim's report and is not affected by Yim's destruction of his files.

Attorney General Margery Bronster, who launched the state probe in August, is looking into allegations of mismanagement by trustees.

In a related development, the estate's special master Colbert Matsumoto has delayed his review of the Bishop Estate for the fiscal year 1994-95.

The report was due this month but its release was moved to summer after Matsumoto and the trustees agreed last month that an international accounting firm would conduct a complete financial and management audit of the estate for the fiscal years 1994-96.

Matsumoto released a report in November that was highly critical of the estate's trustees and their management of the finances and assets of the estimated $10 billion educational trust in fiscal 1993-94.

The next report also will focus on the Kamehameha Schools.

Hearing held on faculty
petition to hold union election

Star-Bulletin staff

In a related Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate matter, the Honolulu National Labor Relations Board office was holding a hearing today on a petition by Kamehameha School faculty members to hold an election regarding union representation.

The faculty in October took the initial steps toward forming a union.

Some faculty had said they were unhappy about curriculum changes, late employment contracts and a harsh style of management.

The controversy over charges of mismanagement at KS/BE quickly accelerated after hundreds of Kamehameha Schools alumni and supporters last spring staged a public march ending at the estate office at Kawaiahao Plaza.