Beer deliveries elicit
warning from ethics chief

An incident last year is cited in a
letter about ethical campaigning

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Associated Press

The state Ethics Commission has issued a reminder to state lawmakers that state resources and on-duty employees are not to be used for campaign-related activities.

The reminder comes a year after state Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kaneohe-Kailua) complained to reporters that 20 12-packs of beer were delivered to the Capitol and stored for Sen. Jan Buen's fund-raiser in Honolulu.

When the commission looked into last year's incident, it found no evidence that Buen (D, West Maui-Molokai-Lanai) had arranged the beer delivery, and that a Buen campaign volunteer had asked then-House Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Frank Arakaki to handle the beer, according to a March 5 letter sent to lawmakers.

While the letter does not mention Buen and Arakaki by name, it refers to newspaper accounts of the incident that had identified those involved.

"The commission was also disturbed to learn that similar deliveries have been made by employees of the Legislature to other legislators' offices at the Capitol in the past," said commission Executive Director Dan Mollway, who signed the letter.

It appears there has been a practice over a number of years in which legislative employees have been asked by staff members of legislators to do errands for fund-raising events, Mollway said.

The commission has long held that state law prohibits the use of state time, equipment, facilities and other state resources for campaign purposes, he said.

The Ethics Commission sends all state workers a flier each year notifying them of the prohibition on any campaign-related activity on government time, he said.

When Buen's beer delivery was reported last year, Mollway said the commission has a "zero-tolerance view" on mixing campaign activities with officials' state work.

Buen said at the time she was "shocked" that the beer had been delivered to her office, and arranged to have it removed by her husband later in the day.

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Hawaii State Ethics Commission