Mayor Kirk Caldwell faces two re-elections this year, and his bid for a second $157,080-a-year mayoral term isn’t the vote that most affects his pocketbook.
Caldwell is also up in May for a new three-year term on the board of Territorial Bancorp Inc., a directorship he’s held since 2007 that earned him between $200,000 and $299,999 in 2015, according to his financial disclosure.
The mayor also owns Territorial stock worth between $900,000 and $999,999 at the end of 2015. In September, he sold 4,479 shares for $117,619.
Bank directors usually run unopposed, but Territorial adopted a rule in January requiring unopposed directors to resign if there are more blank ballots than votes in favor.
Caldwell and former Haseko Inc. executive Francis Tanaka are the first directors facing re-election under the new rule, according to Pacific Business News.
The lucrative side job would seem an obvious ethical conflict between his fiduciary responsibilities to the city and the bank, but Caldwell and Ethics Commission Executive Director Chuck Totto say no.
There’s no conflict “real or perceived,” Caldwell said in a 2014 statement, because “the City and County of Honolulu does not use Territorial for any of its accounts or transactions.”
Totto advised there was no conflict when Caldwell first became acting mayor in 2010.
Recently asked to elaborate, he said the ethics code prohibits financial or business activities that could impair independent judgment in carrying out city duties, but that’s not the case if Territorial has no business with the city.
Caldwell benefits from a narrow definition of “business.” More broadly, even a bank with no city deposits has business interests in many city actions — especially favoring pro-development land use and regulatory and public works policies that drive lending.
It’s also likely the bank’s major customers have business with the city.
In his 2014 statement, Caldwell said it’s common for elected officials to have outside income “such as rental income, stock dividends or book royalties.”
But those are all passive income, as opposed to his active fee-for-service work with Territorial.
Second jobs aren’t unusual among legislators, whose government work is considered part-time; Caldwell’s Territorial directorship started when he was House majority leader.
But such side positions are rare among full-time chief executives.
When Caldwell’s office was asked in 2014 and Totto was asked recently if they knew of past mayors who did such lucrative outside work, neither responded.
Caldwell’s family wealth is rooted in banking; his wife, Donna Tanoue, is a Bank of Hawaii vice chairwoman who earned between $700,000 and $799,000 in 2015 and owned stock worth at least $1 million.
Before becoming mayor, Caldwell was an attorney who represented banks.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
