[ OUR OPINION ]

Closer tabs needed
on HVCB and HTA

THE ISSUE A preliminary audit suggests that the visitors bureau exploited state funding and the state tourism authority failed to supervise spending.

IF TAXPAYERS want assurance that state funds to promote tourism are being spent appropriately, a preliminary report by the state auditor won't offer that. Instead, the draft account details a host of questionable practices by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau with little regard from the state agency that contracts its services.

Doubtless the public gained nothing from the bureau's chief executive, Tony Vericella, using state money to pay for $137 in parking and speeding tickets, $174 for his family's travel and $359 for in-room movies in hotels. While those payments may involve a small portion of the $151.7 million HVCB received between January 2000 and last December from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, it can hardly dismiss suspicions about its actions in other areas.

The draft report describes how a Taiwan public relations firm was awarded a $242,000 HVCB contract while the company's president, Wei-Wei Ojiri, also was a bureau vice president, resigning from the bureau three days before the contract was executed. Despite Vericella's contention that the matter was "reasonable, rational and justifiable," the conflict of interest -- "self-serving purposes," says the audit report -- menaces the public trust.

Another issue involved the bureau's vice president for Japan, Kiyoshi Mukumoto, who had been a Japan Airlines employee. Unable to match his salary, HVCB allowed JAL to fund part of his pay. The problem is that Mukumoto is supposed to work with all Japan-based airlines to promote travel in Hawaii. "Any arrangement that presents even the appearance of a conflict of interest should be avoided so that marketing activities supported by state contract funds are not tainted," the audit said.

Although the auditor's office was critical of the bureau, a private nonprofit group, it blamed the state tourism authority, which spends most of its budget on contracts with HVCB, for lax oversight.

HTA, the state's primary agency for promoting tourism, was faulted in an audit last year for "alarming" deficiencies in managing its funds. In response, the state Legislature this year approved bills that would have required HTA to hire a certified public accountant to perform annual financial audits and to detail contracts it makes using public funds. The measures were vetoed by Governor Lingle, who contended that legislative "micromanaging" was "inappropriate" in matters where her office has jurisdiction.

Be that as it may, the HTA's track record and what the report calls the HVCB's "operant culture of taking advantage" of state funds demand a shorter leash for both.

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Keep lobbies out
of public functions

THE ISSUE The Hawaii Christian Coalition and the city are co-sponsors of Independence Day festivities.

CITY and state ethics rules are aimed at prohibiting public employees from engaging in conflicts of interest. They fail to adequately address the use of public resources to further the political interests of private businesses or organizations. The state teamed up with a labor union and an advocacy group two years ago to campaign against smoking in restaurants. The Hawaii Christian Coalition, a conservative lobby, is co-sponsoring the city's Independence Day celebration this year. Lines need to be drawn to put some restraint on such political partnerships.

In June 2001, the state Department of Health, in partnership with Local 5 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union and the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, launched an $850,000 media campaign focusing on the health consequences of secondhand smoke in restaurants. The City Council and the Maui and Kauai county councils banned smoking in restaurants the following year.

City Ethics Commission guidelines forbid an employee from using city resources for anything but city projects. On its Web site, the commission gives as an example of forbidden activity a city officer's requirement that his staff seek donations for his church. However, people who sign up for food booths for Independence Day festivities July 5 at Kapiolani Park will be required to donate to Christian Family Charities.

The Christian Coalition, co-sponsor of the Independence Day activities, lobbies on issues that have what it regards as negative moral implications, such as abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, gambling and physician-assisted suicide. Garret Hashimoto, the coalition's president, said he enlisted Christian Family Charities to handle meals at the event, charging $25 for a table of eight, because of its tax-deductible status, which the coalition lacks.

"This is no different than getting community support for Sunset on the Beach," said city spokeswoman Carol Costa. "Christian Coalition just happens to be one of many organizations involved."

But the competing political agendas of the coalition and a gay-rights community group already have come into conflict. The event's parade committee has rejected participation by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The parade rules, written by the coalition, prohibit entrants "that promote political, controversial or negative advocacy or otherwise are deemed objectionable and a possible cause of disruptive influence along the parade route."