[ OUR OPINION ]
Harris scores,
but allegations remainMAYOR Harris can claim legal victories in the past week in his fight with the state Campaign Spending Commission, but they are peripheral to the larger issues that remain. The Harris campaign organization still must deal with a more serious criminal investigation by the city prosecutor's office into allegations of corruption.
THE ISSUE
A federal judge has ruled that donors to Mayor Harris's last campaign may give the maximum allowed to his race for governor.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor last week rejected the commission's complaint that restricted the amount of contributions allowed for Harris's gubernatorial campaign from people who had given to his 2000 mayoral campaign. Gillmor did not challenge the commission's math but disagreed about the interpretation of state campaign laws, finding essentially that double-dipping is allowed when campaign periods overlap.
Individual contribution limits are $4,000 to mayoral candidates and $6,000 to candidates for governor during an election period, defined in the campaign-spending law as the four years preceding elections for those offices. Gillmor ruled that a donor of $4,000 to Harris's mayoral campaign is allowed to give up to $6,000 for his gubernatorial campaign, even when the combined total came within the four years preceding the election for governor.
This legal issue does not involve allegations of corruption but rather a reading of state law. The judge apparently concluded that maximum contributions were allowed because they were for different purposes, although for the same candidate.
A bigger victory for Harris in his defense against charges of corruption was the commission's decision to withdraw a complaint that he improperly raised $100,000 for the Democratic National Committee for use in the Al Gore presidential campaign. Robert Y. Watada, the commission's executive director, believes that Harris raised the money as part of a scheme for the DNC to return untraceable "soft money" back to his own campaign.
The nexus in such a scheme would be difficult to prove, and the commission's staff is stretched thin; it consists of Watada, an associate director, a lawyer and two clerical employees. The Harris campaign celebrated vindication, but it should be concerned about the ongoing probe by the city prosecutor's office, which has the resources to conduct a thorough investigation.
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The city built it,
but takers yet to comeTHE city administration appears to be making an attempt to recover at least some of the costs of maintaining the Waipio Soccer Complex after a plan for a private operator to shoulder the expense failed to materialize. The problem could have been avoided if the city had prudently contracted an operator before the sprawling facility was built.
THE ISSUE
The city wants to charge people a fee to use the Waipio soccer park.
The city is spending $750,000 a year for upkeep of the 19-month-old complex, counter to Mayor Jeremy Harris's promise that private entities would take on those costs. During a budget review last month, City Council members sharply criticized the administration because they had approved the project with the understanding that maintenance and management would not be an added burden for taxpayers. Manny Menendez, city director of economic development, now says he envisions the city and an operator sharing the responsibility for the complex.
The administration had issued several requests for bids from operators, but all the applicants wanted subsidies and big concessions. The city's mistake was in not lining up an operator before the groundbreaking festivities. Had it done that, it could have designed the facility taking into account the operator's and the community's needs. To try to sell the complex after construction surely curtails the number of interested parties.
While it continues the hunt, the city is proposing fees for the facility's use. It said it would not seek payment from local soccer leagues, but may from the University of Hawaii women's soccer team and events promoters who charge admission. It also may charge for parking, use of concession booths and signs, but the question is whether these fees will cover the city's expenses.
Cost overruns have pushed the price of the 19-field soccer park from $11 million to $17.8 million. Another $3.4 million is being spent to install additional fields and parking spaces and the facility is still without a ticket booth and permanent restrooms for parts of the park, which will boost the price tag by $700,000.
Soccer leagues have made good use of the fields, and the complex has provided a home for the UH women's team. However, the city's vision of national and international tournaments and big-name professional groups drawing sponsorships and entrance fees may have been a bit blurry. "The reality is we're 2,500 miles away from the nearest land mass," Parks Director Bill Balfour told the Council.
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