The head of a political watchdog group doubts that the state Ethics Commission would follow up on a Republican Party complaint to censure Gov. Ben Cayetano. GOP protest of gov
will fail, expert saysBy Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.comCommon Cause spokesman Larry Meacham cited as the reason how the commission did not punish state Sen. Sam Slom (R, Kalama Valley-Aina Haina) for misusing his state office for campaign purposes four years ago.
State Republicans are filing a complaint with the commission after Cayetano ordered his Cabinet to scrutinize a campaign plan put together by Republican Linda Lingle and then sent out state news releases about it.
Republican Party Chairman Micah Kane called Cayetano's actions illegal, claiming that he was using state personnel, time and resources to campaign against Lingle. Cayetano defended his actions by saying his administration had been attacked in Lingle's plan and he had a right to defend himself, and his administration was able to comment on the validity of Lingle's proposals.
Meacham held a news conference yesterday to stir up a 4-year-old controversy over a joking press release Slom sent out in the waning days of the 1998 campaign for governor.
The release assumed that Cayetano would be losing the governor's race and move into a new home in Slom's East Honolulu district.
Meacham, who criticized Cayetano's actions, said Slom should have been punished for his release.
Slom contends that the release was prepared on stationery that was actually created on a computer in his business office. The Ethics Commission, however, noted that the release contained a reproduction of the state seal and Slom's Senate office telephone number.
The commission said that the state seal, state stationery and one's official position "may not be used for campaign chores." But Meacham said the commission did not take any stronger action than to issue an informal advisory option noting that Slom's news release "raised legitimate concerns about the use of official stationery for campaign purposes."
Slom said, "We are not talking about similar actions. The commission declined my request for a formal hearing. There was no state stationery. Mr. Meacham was way off base and is totally politicizing Common Cause."