Company settles
complaint over
political donationsA $32,000 fine is for illegal contributions
to the Harris, Apana and Cayetano campaigns
A Kaimuki engineering firm has agreed to a $32,000 fine to settle allegations that it made illegal political contributions to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and ex-Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana.
Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshi-zaki Inc. signed a conciliation agreement with the Campaign Spending Commission, which alleged that the firm made $22,500 in excessive and false-name contributions to Harris, Cayetano and Apana during the 1998 and 2000 races.
The firm is one of about 50 local government contractors and individuals who have agreed to pay more than $300,000 to the commission during the state agency's two-year investigation into illegal political donations.
The fine, which requires the approval of the commission's five-member board on Thursday, came as state lawmakers failed to approve a major overhaul of the state's campaign finance law that would have banned political contributions by state and city contractors.
Bob Watada, the commission's executive director, said he was disappointed that the Legislature did not enact any reforms, but said he will take up the issue again next year.
Watada believes that the state has to take politics out of the government contracting process to eliminate favoritism and political corruption.
In the latest case, Watada said the Shimabukuro firm reimbursed several of its officers for making thousands of dollars in contributions to candidates.
The false-name contributions allowed the firm to circumvent the state's $4,000 limit for mayoral races and $6,000 limit for gubernatorial races, he said.
"This is the part of the system that has to be changed," Watada said.
In a related matter, the engineering firm of Hida Okamoto & Associates Inc. agreed to a $1,000 fine for making $3,650 in excessive contributions to Harris, while the architecture firm Group 70 Ltd. will pay $2,000 for making $4,000 in over-the-limit contributions to Harris.
The commission also will fine local insurance broker Alan Nishimoto $500 for making $2,000 in excess contributions to Harris.