Nine mid- to high-level current and former state employees have agreed to pay a total of $34,800 in administrative penalties for allegedly accepting free golf from private contractors, consultants, vendors and other companies that did business with their agencies, the state Ethics Commission announced this week.
In exchange, the commission will not pursue further actions against the nine, including recently retired Department of Transportation Highways Chief Alvin Takeshita, former DOT Deputy Director Jadine Urasaki and recently retired University of Hawaii Associate Vice President Brian Minaai.
All nine were in jobs making them responsible for selecting contractors, and the contractors who offered them free entry into charity golf tournaments or free rounds of golf did business with their agencies, the commission said.
The nine employees consisted of four from the DOT, three from the UH system and one each from the Department of Accounting and General Services and the Department of Agriculture.
Eight of the nine state employees were named. The ninth, an engineer in the Department of Agriculture formerly with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, was not named after he provided additional information and evidence indicating he likely did pay for his own golf on several occasions.
Named were:
» Marshall Ando, DOT Harbors Division, Engineering Branch, Design Section head.
» Gerobin Carnate, former DOT Highways Division, Materials Testing and Research Branch, Structural Materials Section head.
» Brian Kashiwaeda, UH Community Colleges, Facilities and Environmental Health Office director.
» Minaai, recently retired UH associate vice president for capital improvements.
» Eric Nishimoto, DAGS Public Works Division, Project Management Branch chief.
» Takeshita, recently retired DOT Highways Division administrator and Engineering Program manager (Traffic Branch head).
» David Tamanaha, UH-Maui College, vice chancellor for administrative affairs.
» Urasaki, former DOT deputy director for CIP who was previously DOE Facilities Development Branch Public Works manager and recently returned to that job.
Gov. David Ige, in response to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser query, issued a statement voicing concerns that employees responsible for procurement accepted and did not report free gifts from government contractors.
"The public has the right to expect the very best behavior from state employees involved in expending public funds through procurement," Ige said. "Employees in these positions should have known better and I am extremely disappointed."
The administration will look at recent procurements involving the individuals named in this week’s report "to ensure the integrity of the process," he said. "Their supervisors will also examine their procurement authority to determine what appropriate actions can be taken."
Ige said he also will consult with state procurement and ethics officials "to see if can take further measures to strengthen procurement integrity in our state."
Les Kondo, the Ethics Commission’s executive director, said this week’s report concludes an investigation that initially focused on one state employee and eventually led to dozens of queries at multiple state agencies.
Kondo said he hopes the investigation sends a clear message to all state employees that they should not accept free gifts from a firm doing business with their agencies if it can be inferred the gift is meant to influence or reward their decisions.
"The underlying purpose of the state Ethics Code is to foster public confidence in state government, that state employees are doing things for the right reasons," he said.
Between 50 and 60 state employees were questioned during the investigation, which lasted more than year. In September the commission announced it had concluded its investigation into 21 employees, who agreed to pay administrative penalties without the commission issuing formal charges against them or concluding that any state ethics code violations occurred. None was named.
The nine people tied to the latest commission report, issued Monday, actually had charges filed against them but were able to work out a settlement amount with the state instead of having the investigation proceed. The commission also makes no conclusions that there were any ethics code violations.
"Based on the totality of the facts and circumstances, the commission believed that it was appropriate and in the public interest to resolve the charges against the respondents without further proceedings," the commission report said.
The investigation’s list of those firms providing the free golf reads like a who’s who of Hawaii contractors including Ameron Hawaii, Grace Pacific, Hawaiian Cement, Mitsunaga and Associates, Parsons Brinckerhoff, R.M. Towill Corp. and SSFM International.
