UH officials admit A new top University of Hawaii administrator failed to disclose any financial information, including nearly $350,000 in earnings and the $830,000 sale of his New York home, when he filed a state Ethics Commission financial disclosure form late last year.
disclosure errors
2 administrators say
they misunderstood the
state ethics formsBy Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.comVice President for External Affairs Paul Costello said he left all of the commission form's 10 financial categories blank, including his and his wife's 2001 earnings, because he misunderstood the form's directions.
"I remember believing that since I had just arrived (and) did not make any income in Hawaii, I presumed that it (the form) was based on the income I had in Hawaii."
J.R.W. "Wick" Sloane, UH's chief financial officer, also failed to fully complete the form when he left out the earnings of his wife, current UH Foundation President Elizabeth Sloane, for her work with K@tapult Inc., the consulting firm "Wick" Sloane founded in 1999 and closed before moving to Hawaii.
Costello said he will reveal later in an addendum to the disclosure the $837,000 sale of his Pelham Manor, N.Y., home, which he sold before coming to Hawaii.
He also plans to show the $159,000 pay cut he took to come to UH from the public relations agency Weber Shandwick, where he served as a managing director and was earning $345,000 a year.
He currently earns $186,000 in a position he agreed to take in late August 2001.
Also not on the form: Last year's earnings for Costello's wife, a freelance journalist and former adjunct professor at Columbia University, totaling $11,000.
He did fill out his name, the names of his wife and children, his position at the university and his starting date.
Costello dated the form Dec. 20, three days after he officially took up his post at the university. The commission received the report on Jan. 7, according to the form.
Sloane reported to the commission his earnings last year amounted to a $70,000 consulting fee from B China B Plastics in New York City.
The fee was paid directly to Sloane, rather to his firm, and amounted to a salary, he said.
He did not report the consulting earnings of his wife, Elizabeth, which amounted to $58,376 and were paid to K@tapult, Inc. Sloane's current UH salary is $277,000.
Sloane and Costello, who both knew and worked with UH President Evan Dobelle before they took up their positions at the university nearly nine months ago, said the omissions were honest mistakes.
Costello contacted the Ethics Commission last week and reported the errors, after being questioned about the form, he said.
He added that he has committed to three years at the university, despite his reduced salary.
"Life is not all about income. ... From the top down, it feels like we're making progress (at UH)," he said.
Dobelle declined comment on Costello's report.
Dobelle's Ethics Commission financial disclosure form shows a $505,338 salary from his former position as president at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Dobelle said his base salary at UH, $442,000, was the same at Trinity.
Bonuses made up the $63,338 discrepancy, he said.
Dobelle also reported receiving $18,525 as a board member of clothing manufacturer Gap, Inc. He resigned from the position on July 1, 2001, before accepting his current position.
University of Hawaii
