AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM The city's handling of the $23 million Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park is under investigation.

Harris inquiry
focuses on park

Prosecutors are probing campaign
donations and contracts at
Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park

The mayor is suspected of receiving
an illegal contribution from the firm
that got the contract

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By Rick Daysog and Gordon Y.K. Pang
rdaysog@starbulletin.com
gpang@starbulletin.com

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's investigation into Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' political campaign is taking a close look at the city's handling of the $23 million Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.

During the past several months, Carlisle's office and the Honolulu Police Department have questioned several contractors that took part in the massive Leeward Oahu sports complex, people contacted by the investigators told the Star-Bulletin.

Carlisle's office also has enlisted the aid of the San Francisco district attorney's office to interview several California residents who made political donations to the Harris 2000 re-election campaign on behalf of Stringer Tusher Architects, one of the major contractors that worked on the project.

It is unclear whether the Waipio project is a focus of an Oahu grand jury investigation into the Harris campaign, but people contacted by Carlisle's office said the prosecutor continues to pursue its investigation into the project.

Jim Fulton, Carlisle's executive assistant, declined comment. The prosecutor's office also declined comment on the grand jury proceedings.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa, upon learning yesterday that prosecutors are investigating the project, declined comment about the complex.

William McCorriston, attorney for the Harris campaign, defended the city's contracting process, saying the City and County of Honolulu was the first county government in the state to implement firewalls to prevent political contributions from influencing the awards of city jobs.

"The Harris administration has made a dedicated effort to construct a system that is free from outside influence," said McCorriston.

Harris was the Democratic front-runner for this year's governor's race before he pulled out on May 30.

On Monday an Oahu grand jury issued dozens of subpoenas to city officials, architects and subcontractors who worked on several city projects to appear at a Sept. 5 hearing at state Circuit Court.

Witnesses subpoenaed by the grand jury include Rae Loui, director of the city Department of Design and Construction; Randall Fujiki, the Design and Construction Department's former head; former city Budget Director Caroll Takahashi; and former city Finance Director Roy Amemiya.

The grand jury has not issued a subpoena to Harris.

The 288-acre Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, touted as a world-class sports facility, opened in September 2000, but construction has continued.

The city awarded a $2.5 million nonbid design contract to a team of architects and engineers headed by Stringer Tusher Architects Inc. in January 1998. That contract was amended six times at the city's request, adding another $400,000 in costs.

According to a state Campaign Spending Commission investigation, Stringer Tusher allegedly funneled $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the Harris campaign on Dec. 31, 1997, or about a month before the firm received the city contract for the soccer complex.

The contributions were made in the name of friends and relatives of Stringer Tusher President David Stringer but were paid by cashier's checks purchased by Stringer or his company, according to the commission.

The donors, who were interviewed by the San Francisco district attorney's office at Carlisle's request, included:

>> John Stricklin of Mill Valley, Calif., who is Stringer's former son-in-law.
>> Peacock Properties, which is based in San Francisco.
>> Wedge Holdings Inc., also based in San Francisco.
>> Gil and Vicki Gilfix, who are retirees living in Mountain View, Calif.
>> Todd Leventhal of San Francisco, who is a salesman for Miller Brewing Co.
>> Casper Mol, a San Francisco-based architect.

Stringer declined comment when asked about the Waipio complex and the cashier's checks linked to his firm. But he said that his firm "has not given in any substance" to any campaign in the last 35 years.

"The only thing we've done is provide them with an award-winning project," Stringer said. "In fact, we've only completed four projects for the city in 20 years, and they've all been award winners. We have no apologies."

According to people familiar with the commission's investigation, the Stringer Tusher firm was sent an additional $20,000 worth of Harris campaign tickets. Some of the tickets were later purchased by subcontractors and other companies.

One donor, Moss Engineering Inc., wrote a $400 check in April 1998 to the Harris campaign that included the notation "Stringer Tusher" and listed Stringer Tusher's address, according to a person familiar with the commission's investigation.

Richard Moss, president of Moss Engineering, recalled that he made a contribution to the Harris campaign but said he did not write "Stringer Tusher" on a check.

Moss said he has worked with Stringer Tusher, but his firm did not work on the Waipio project.

The project's price tag has soared since the initial contract because of multiple change orders to the original plan.

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Prosecutors are investigating campaign donations and city contracts involving the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.

The first phase, consisting of 19 soccer fields and a 4,000-seat stadium, incurred 14 change orders totaling nearly $8 million, an increase of nearly 72 percent from the original $11.1 million contract.

Phase 2-A of the project, consisting of four new fields and additional parking, will increase costs by $3.4 million, but it has no change orders and is not yet completed. Phase 2-B, for a ticket booth and restroom station, carried a $695,500 price tag and has not incurred change orders.

The project's general contractor for phases 1 and 2-A is Goodfellow Brothers Inc., which was selected through a bid process. Company president Stephen Goodfellow did not return several calls to his office. Phase 2-B was completed by 57 Builders Inc., also through a bid process.

The project's Phase 1 had an initial contingency amount of $1,081,070. But records in the Purchasing Division of the Department of Budget & Fiscal Services show contingency for the project has since increased five times.

The last six change orders added more than $7.5 million to Phase 1, including three for more than $1 million each.

Change Order No. 10, approved Aug. 14, 2000, added nearly $3.6 million to the project cost. A bulk of those improvements, according to the change order, were to "provide upgraded support facilities at Field 1 per Mayor's Soccer Task Force, including shower facilities, comfort station, bleacher seating, announcer's booth, electronic scoreboard, select turf and sufficient illumination for media telecasts."

A separate communication, from then-Design and Construction Director Gary Yee dated Sept. 6, 2000, said the change order was necessary "due to the commitment that the city made to host the home games of the UH Wahine Soccer Team."

Change Order No. 13, approved Sept. 27, 2001, was for $1.6 million. The largest expense was $1.4 million to install new bleachers that expanded the stadium to 4,000 seats from the original 2,400 capacity. City documents dating back to 1999 show the city had envisioned a 4,000-seat stadium.

Change Order No. 14, the most recent, was approved Feb. 28, for $1.2 million. Records show that the largest expense of $519,991 was for electrical work. The change order lists a completion date of July 1, 2002, nearly 22 months after Phase 1 was first opened.