[ OUR OPINION ]
Pledge to shun political
patronage rings hollowTHE PROCESS by which a long-time associate of Governor Lingle's was appointed to direct the state's public housing agency raises questions of propriety. Although Stephanie Aveiro may be qualified for the position, the waiver of a federal regulation that should have disqualified her from the job leaves her and the agency that had been faulted for poor management vulnerable to charges of insider favoritism. This is not an auspicious new beginning for either.
THE ISSUE
A long-time aide to Governor Lingle has been appointed as executive director of the state's public housing agency.
Aveiro's assignment as executive director of the Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawaii comes a year after Michael Liu, an assistant secretary for U.S. Housing and Urban Development, demanded the resignation of the agency's board, charging mismanagement of federal funds and conflicts of interest on the part of HCDCH's director at the time.
Liu, a former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who served in the state Legislature, called for the board's removal a few days before last year's gubernatorial election. Liu's demand and accusations drew complaints from then-Governor Cayetano that they were timed to boost Republican Lingle's political interests.
Liu countered that the federal sanctions were "aggressive actions" by the Bush administration to correct ethical and accountability problems, words that ring hollow in view of Liu's actions in Aveiro's appointment.
Aveiro, who was director of the Department of Housing and Human Concerns in Maui when Lingle was mayor and, more recently, her special assistant managing the governor's residence, was one of nine people the governor appointed to the HCDCH's board after previous members quit last year. When a yearlong search to replace Sharyn Miyashiro -- who retired following Liu's accusations that the agency improperly awarded a $771,000 contract to her ex-husband --yielded no suitable candidates, Aveiro expressed an interest in the job. However, federal regulations forbid board members from taking executive positions for an agency they serve within a one-year period.
Liu, however, inexplicably waived that rule to allow the board -- sans Aveiro, who recused herself -- to vote unanimously to give her the job with a $77,966 annual salary, the maximum pay level allowed by law. The board also hired Pamela Dodson, another Lingle associate who served as her executive assistant on Maui, to be Aveiro's assistant. Dodson also will receive the maximum pay of about $70,000.
Whether being on the board gave Aveiro an advantage in winning her new job may be off point; she appears to have the skills to head the agency that manages the more than 80 government housing projects in Hawaii and millions of dollars in federal and state funds. Nonetheless, the governor's oft-repeated proclamation that her Republican administration, unlike those of her Democratic predecessors, would not engage in cronyism and rewards for friends seems void of sincerity.
