In 2013, amid accusations that the University of Hawaii may have wasted millions of dollars by mishandling construction contracts, the Legislature cracked down. It passed a bill that took away the role of the UH president — M.R.C. Greenwood at the time, in the last few months of her tenure — as chief procurement officer for construction-related projects.
The State Procurement Office (SPO) reassumed the role, resulting in what UH called a “bifurcated procurement system”: While the UH president retained oversight for goods and services contracts, construction projects were overseen by the SPO and coordinated with the state Department of Accounting and General Services. In plain language, it expanded the bureaucratic maze.
“There was one set of procedures, templates, forms and approval work flows specific to goods and services … ” said Jan Gouveia, UH vice president for administration, “and another set of processes for construction and construction-related professional services that utilized the SPO forms, templates, and procedures.”
The result, Gouveia said, was confusion — among everyone from UH staff to vendors and contractors.
And so in 2018, after five years of relative calm under the current UH president, David Lassner, the Legislature changed its mind, sort of.
It returned to the UH president the role of chief procurement officer for construction projects, but tacked on a sunset date of June 30, 2021, in case things went bad.
It appears nothing did. In fact, in 2016, UH won high marks from SPO for handling procurements “in a compliant, efficient, and transparent manner.” UH also points to its considerable efforts to streamline and modernize its procurement practices, noting that of 250 construction-related procurement projects between 2018 and 2020, only eight were protested, and all were resolved.
Now the Legislature is considering lifting the sunset date and returning control to the UH president permanently — a move endorsed by the SPO. House Bill 1067 would have done just that. But when the bill crossed over and emerged from the Senate Higher Education Committee this week, it was amended to include another sunset clause: June 30, 2024.
Why? It’s not entirely clear.
Those who remain skeptical of UH management might want to keep it on a short leash. But as a practical matter, it’s in the state’s best interest to have the university handle its own construction projects efficiently, within the requirements of the state procurement code. Yes, this requires some trust in good leadership at UH. But surely that trust is now warranted; at this point, the sunset date seems arbitrary. The Legislature shouldn’t waste time revisiting this issue if it’s not necessary. Lift the sunset date and move on.
