HPD probes Honolulu police are investigating city Managing Director Ben Lee's receipt of historic curbstones from a major city contractor.
delivery of
curbstones to
city official
The history of the territorial-era
blocks is being checkedBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com
Several state and city managers said they recently were contacted by HPD's white-collar division about the territorial-era stone blocks, which were delivered to Lee's Punchbowl District home in December 2001 by Royal Contracting Inc.
Lee did not pay for the curbstones, nor did he list them on his annual gift disclosures with the city Ethics Commission.
HPD investigators could not be reached for comment.
Eric Seitz, Lee's attorney, said an investigation will find that his client did nothing wrong. Lee was informed by Royal Contracting that the curbstones had no value when they were delivered to his home, Seitz said.
Seitz said Lee returned the rocks to Royal Contracting after a Star-Bulletin story last month raised questions about Lee's curbstones.
"As far as I know, there isn't any evidence to support any allegation of wrongdoing by Mr. Lee," said Seitz, who would not say whether Lee had been contacted by the HPD or by prosecutors.
"We don't believe there is a basis for any investigation."
The city Prosecutor's office, which is investigating the awarding of city contracts to large political donors to Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign, would not confirm or deny the inquiries.
Leonard Leong, a Royal Contracting vice president, declined comment.
Leong, chairman of the Honolulu Police Commission, previously told the Star-Bulletin that he did not charge Lee for the curbstones because many of them were irregularly shaped and were unusable.
He also said the curbstones were technically owned by Royal Contracting since the company was responsible for hauling away old building materials to a dump site.
The inquiries from criminal investigators come as state and federal agencies have begun separate probes into the curbstone controversy.
The state Campaign Spending Commission has opened an investigation into Royal Contracting, which has received more than $38 million in city work since 1994.
The commission is focusing on more than $11,000 in alleged excessive campaign contributions by Leong and his relatives to Harris' 2000 re-election effort.
The Enforcement Division of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources also has made inquiries about the curbstones.
Holly McEldowney, acting administrator for department's Historic Preservation Division, said she referred the matter to the Enforcement Division because the stones have historic value and should be protected under state law.
The curbstones, which are made of basalt or blue rock, were placed in Honolulu's streets before the 1920s. Government construction projects involving historic artifacts are supervised by the Historic Preservation Division.
McEldowney's office also referred the matter to the Federal Highways Administration, according to Abraham Wong, Hawaii division administrator for the federal agency.
Wong said engineers from his office have made preliminary inquiries to the city to see if the curbstones came from federally funded city projects such as the road repairs on King Street in Chinatown.
"We are checking with the city to see if they can account for the stones," Wong said.
Honolulu Police Department
