Dual roles for state
agent seen as conflictThe deputy director of the
Department of Accounting owns
a firm used by campaigners
An accounting firm partly owned by a high-ranking official and former campaign worker of Gov. Linda Lingle has performed $611,573 in work for Lingle and other Republicans.
Kathy Thomason, deputy director of the state Department of Accounting & General Services, is vice president and director of accounting firm IMS Inc., which has prepared campaign spending reports for Lingle and Republican Sens. Fred Hemmings and Bob Hogue.
Legislators and Campaign Spending Commission Executive Director Bob Watada have raised concerns because Thomason's department has administrative control over the spending commission. At the same time, the spending commission has to rule on procedures followed by candidates who use Thomason's firm.
Thomason has also testified about changes to campaign spending laws.
Thomason, Lingle and other administration officials said Thomason has done nothing wrong and do not see a conflict.
"I didn't take advantage of my position in any way, shape or form, and there is nothing that shows that I have," Thomason said.
But Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua), chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, said Thomason's relationship with her company, the Campaign Spending Commission and political campaigns creates a potential conflict.
"If the company continues to do campaign-related work and she has a relationship with the Campaign Spending Commission and her own company doing campaign spending work, there is definitely the appearance of impropriety," Hanabusa said.
Watada said he talked to Thomason about her role and warned her about possible problems.
Watada said he was not sure if there was an actual conflict, but that "perception-wise it could be a problem."
"I pointed it out to her, and she said she would remove herself from the campaign," Watada said. "We both recognized that, and that is why she removed herself from the campaign."
Thomason has worked with Lingle's two gubernatorial campaigns. Since joining the Lingle administration, Thomason says she has stopped actively working with IMS.
"I have an ownership in the company; I invested some money when I came on board. I did nothing with it and it is just sitting there," Thomason said.
She said that she resigned from the Lingle campaign last year and does not do any work for IMS. Thomason added that she did not recall the conversation with Watada.
"I have no income from the company. There was a payment for 2003, but I had no income and no interest," Thomason said.
Hanabusa noticed IMS when Republican Hogue mentioned during a Judiciary Committee hearing last month that Thomason prepared his campaign spending reports. At the time, Thomason was appearing before the committee to provide testimony for the Department of Accounting & General Services on a campaign spending bill.
Hanabusa has also been critical of the department after its director, Russ Saito, said he interpreted state law to mean that he -- and not Watada -- was responsible for all testimony and communication between the Campaign Spending Commission and the Legislature.
Hanabusa has introduced a series of bills to either place the commission with another state agency or to specify that the department has no control over the commission.
Thomason said she did not have a conflict because she was not in a policy-making position in the department.
Lingle said Thomason's opinion on campaign spending matters is valued by the administration.
"She is a plus because she has so much experience. I don't think there has been someone in office who has had so much experience with campaign spending law," Lingle said. "She is meticulous, and she knows how the law works."
But Hanabusa argues that "it is a difficult position if her company continues to operate and she receives any benefit from the company."
"It is very possible there is a conflict," Hanabusa said.
Thomason said her firm, which continues to prepare campaign spending reports for Lingle, the state Republican Party, Hemmings and Hogue, does not enjoy any special benefits.
"The company has never advertised for that (campaign work), we never had an explicit request to take on the work, I am not involved in it, I don't do it, I don't touch it and I don't see it," Thomason said.
Thomason said she has not asked the state Ethics Commission for an opinion on the situation, and expected the commission would contact her if it had any concerns about disclosures she had filed with it.
The Lingle, Hogue and Hemmings campaigns have used IMS to handle spending commission filings and tax matters.
In 2002 the Lingle campaign used 20 full-time employees who were hired through IMS Inc.
That practice prompted the spending commission to ask IMS and the Lingle campaign for a detailed breakdown, spelling out who Lingle had hired and the payroll costs.
In the 1998 campaign, Thomason joined Lingle as a volunteer and handled scheduling. Before joining the Lingle campaign, Thomason, a certified public accountant, was a corporate comptroller for Koolau Ranch.
She has also represented Lingle at a Kahaluu Neighborhood Board meeting.
