Political donations
draw $25,000 in finesThree organizations made contributions
illegally to the mayor and former governor
The state Campaign Spending Commission has approved fines totaling $25,000 against three organizations for making illegal political donations to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and former Gov. Ben Cayetano.
By a 4-0 vote yesterday, the commission approved a $16,000 fine against government contractor KSF Inc. for making false-name contributions to Cayetano and Harris and an $8,000 fine against the engineering firm of Akinaka & Associates Ltd. for improperly reimbursing its employees for contributions to Harris and Cayetano.
The commission also unanimously approved a $1,000 fine against the Hawaii Citizen's Political Committee for making $4,000 in excessive contributions to Harris. The Hawaii Citizen's Political Committee is an arm of Local 1186 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
"These are cases where the donors made sure they gave money to candidates to get inthe game," said Bob Watada, commission executive director.
Under state law a company or individual can give no more than $6,000 to a gubernatorial candidate and $4,000 to a mayoral candidate during a four-year election cycle. Donors also are barred from making political contributions under false names.
The fines are the latest in the commission's investigation into state and city contractors. So far, the commission has issued more than $300,000 in fines against more than five dozen local companies.
Campaign Spending Commission