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Ethics complaint calls
on Gabbard to recuse
herself from gay-related
school board issues

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By Lisa Asato
Star-Bulletin

Carol Gabbard should recuse herself from Board of Education decisions that affect gay and lesbian students, according to a complaint filed with the Hawaii State Ethics Commission

Mitchell Kahle, president of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of Church and State, said he filed a complaint Thursday for Gabbard's failure to disclose positions she and her husband, Mike, hold with various interest groups.

"Not only didn't she disclose (affiliations), but she checked 'none' -- acknowledging she read it," Kahle said.

He said that Carol Gabbard's position as secretary and treasurer of the nonprofit Science Identity Foundation, and Mike Gabbard's role as the president of the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values are potential conflicts of interest and disqualify her from voting on board policy regarding gays and lesbians.

Gabbard, elected to the state Board of Education in November, said she did hold those posts during the period covered by the disclosure, but no longer does.

She called the omissions "technical mistakes" and said this was another case of "bigotry raising its ugly head."

Gabbard returned as a household name last year when she argued against granting gay and lesbian students specific protection in schools, then ran for the school board position and won. Her husband's political action committee led a successful campaign in 1998 against legalizing same-sex marriage in Hawaii.

Dan Mollway, ethics commission executive director, said he couldn't comment on a pending case, but said that intentional omissions on a financial disclosure form would be a "serious violation of the state ethics code."

He said the conflict of interest law bars state officials from taking action in which they, their spouse or children have a financial interest.

Even officers of nonprofit organizations are bound by the law, he said, because "as a board member you have a fiduciary duty to that organization, and fiduciary is tantamount to financial interest."

But it wouldn't necessarily preclude someone from discussing issues and policies, he said.

Gabbard has since been served by the commission and has until March 27 to respond, Kahle said.