Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Vendor can no longer
sell at public school

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Question: Why are vendors allowed to go into a public school office and sell products? I was at Blanche Pope Elementary School, and someone from Watanabe Floral was selling flowers to people going into and out of the office.

Answer: The practice has been discontinued after school officials realized it may be seen as giving preferential treatment to the vendor.

The flower seller had been coming "now and then," maybe once a quarter, to sell flowers to teachers and staff members, acknowledged Pope Elementary Principal Rodney Moriwake.

She would wait for them in the front administrative office, usually during the lunch hour or after school, he said. "She (wasn't) here selling to the public in any way."

Moriwake said the practice started before he became principal and was meant "to benefit the staff. That's my understanding."

When asked what would happen if other vendors asked to have the same privilege, he said he agreed that "in the larger scheme of things, it could become problematic."

According to the "fair treatment" section of the state ethics code, "state employees may not use their positions to secure advantages for themselves or others," said Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen. "While a flower vendor coming to a campus offers only convenience for the employees, it may also be a commercial advantage that the school cannot realistically extend to all vendors."

An acceptable alternative would include a formal fund-raising partnership with the school and vendors who operate off campus, Knudsen said.

"We didn't have a partnership in any way, and it's not a problem in any way" to stop the practice, Moriwake said.

Auwe

Please warn your readers that they should make sure the security alarm installer they hire is licensed by the state, otherwise kick them out of your home. When my home got broken into, my kids gave me money to install an alarm system. I hired a company to do the work for $3,000. When the installers came, they said it would take five days to wire my home, but after running wires for two days, they never came back. When I called the alarm company, they said the installers went to work on another job and that they didn't have any control over them because they are subcontractors. I checked with the state Office of Consumer Protection and found out that the installers were not licensed to do alarm work. When I called back my alarm company, the salesman told me again they had no control over subcontractors who use unlicensed workers. I ended up sticking with the alarm company because they told me it was more than three days since I signed a contract and that they could take me to Small Claims Court. The Office of Consumer Protection told me to file a complaint, but I feel, let them go (I live and learn). -- No Name

Don't just live and learn. We also checked with the Office of Consumer Protection and was told that you should file a complaint, if for no other reason than to have your experience on record for other consumers to see. Call 587-3222.

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Useful phone numbers

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