Big Island politician
is assailed on ethics

CORRECTION Tuesday, September 13, 2005 » Big Island Councilman Jimmy Arakaki was told by the Hawaii County Clerk and the Corporation Counsel that he should file disclosure statements regarding financial gifts that he used in a legal defense fund. A Page A3 article yesterday might have given the incorrect impression the two officials were aware of details about the gifts, such as who was giving the money. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

HILO » Big Island lawyer David Kimo Frankel says Hawaii County Council member Jimmy Arakaki violated ethics standards and campaign spending laws in accepting donations to his legal defense fund.

If the donations were gifts, they were barred by the county code, Frankel said. If they were campaign donations, some exceeded donation limits.

Arakaki said the donations are legal and that Frankel is conducting a personal vendetta against him.

"He's angry with me. He's an angry man," Arakaki said.

Frankel replied simply, "People should be concerned when elected officials ignore the law."

Frankel represented Arakaki's opponent, Ollie Fulks, and two other clients who sued to stop Arakaki from running for re-election last year, saying he was barred by a term limits law. A court ruled that Arakaki could run. In the nonpartisan race, Fulks received 796 votes to Arakaki's 3,104.

Arakaki set up the defense fund to take donations to pay legal bills incurred fighting the lawsuit.

The county code says no county officer shall receive a gift "under circumstances in which it can be reasonably inferred that the gift is intended to influence the officer" or "is intended as a reward for any official act."

Frankel lists four alleged instances of apparent conflict, including $2,500 from Lyle Anderson, developer of the stalled Hokulia project in Kona.

Arakaki said the county clerk and the county corporation counsel approved accepting the funds. He took the donations after his campaign was over, so they were not campaign contributions, he said.

While the campaign was still going on, Arakaki paid his lawyer $17,000 from his campaign funds because fighting the lawsuit against him was necessary for his campaign, he said.

Arakaki said he still owes roughly $40,000.

In a complaint to the state Campaign Spending Commission, Frankel says Arakaki cannot divide his legal expenses into payments before and after he was elected. He also says Anderson's $2,500 donation exceeded the maximum of $2,000.