City not in loop
about water fraud
accusations

Officials say they were
not properly notified

---

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com

Police will be investigating suspicious water meter readings found at the homes of about 40 Board of Water Supply employees.

Meanwhile, several City Council members said they are unhappy that Water Manager Cliff Jamile failed to inform board members, police and other authorities about the situation.

Deputy Water Manager Donna Kiyosaki said she and Jamile, who left on a pre-scheduled business trip yesterday, went to police immediately after talking with Mayor Jeremy Harris and Managing Director Ben Lee.

Jamile had told the Star-Bulletin on Monday that he was intending to hire a third-party investigator to gather more information before deciding whether police should be called in.

Kiyosaki said that is no longer the case.

"We talked with the mayor (and Lee) and the city policy is to contact HPD and corporation counsel and both were done today," Kiyosaki said.

The five-member water board, police, Harris and other city officials were not notified about the possible improprieties before yesterday, when the Star-Bulletin began making inquiries.

On Oct. 12, however, Jamile sent a letter to the board's 700 employees notifying them that "some of our employees may be tampering with their personal residential water meters to alter readings and reduce their bills."

Kiyosaki said other parties were to be notified at some point. "We were trying to gather additional information," she said. "It was a matter of timing."

Harris said he learned of the allegations from the Star-Bulletin. The mayor refused to criticize Jamile, stating that he had not yet talked to him. However, Harris said, "Our policy is any potential criminal act gets turned over to the police to investigate."

Harris said it is "certainly fine and legitimate" for Jamile to hire an outside party to aid an internal study, "but that should not preclude the HPD from doing the in-house criminal investigation."

Jamile told the Star-Bulletin that initial suspicion arose from the agency's automatic meter-reading system.

Council members said they were not happy with Jamile's handling of the situation.

Councilman Steve Holmes said the police should have been informed immediately. "It does appear to be a theft and should be treated as such," Holmes said.

Gary Okino, public works chairman, said Jamile "should have probably, at least, notified the police."

---

City & County of Honolulu