Once again the Honolulu City Council is the proving ground for lousy ethics.

Today’s culprit is state Rep. Romy Cachola, 76, who had served 16 years in the state House, 10 years on the Honolulu City Council and was re-elected to the House from Kalihi-Kai in 2010.

Cachola just set the city record for Honolulu Ethics Commission fines, getting slapped with a $50,000 fine.

Cachola’s negotiated agreement allows him to accept the commission’s ruling and pay the fine without having to admit that he committed the violations.

Any criminal charges would have to come from the prosecutor, who usually waits for the commission to finish before investigating.

In agreeing to the censure, Cachola stands on the shoulders of former Council members Rene Mansho, Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia, who all also were caught and fined by the city Ethics Commission.

Ethics must be something of a puzzlement for Cachola because earlier this year the state Campaign Spending Commission fined the long-time Kalihi Democrat $2,496 and ordered him to repay his campaign more than $32,000.

All of this didn’t just come out of the blue. Cachola’s ethics weren’t just having a bad couple of months; he had been warned for years to clean up his act.

The city Ethics Commission noted in its 22-page report (http://goo.gl/tirZwA) that in 2008, Cachola was "ordered not to use city resources for political campaign purposes."

In that instance, Cachola was linking his campaign website to his official web page; innocent citizens looking for information from his city webpage were bounced to his "Vote for Romy" page.

What Cachola was doing that really attracted attention, and one of the things that led to the fine, was with his vehicle.

His campaign bought Cachola a Nissan Pathfinder, which Cachola said he used for campaigning.

But Cachola then turned around and billed the city for car expenses, saying he was using it for city business.

The rules say one or the other, either politicking or official business. Cachola was double-dipping.

But that was just one of many transgressions.

Back in 2003, the Ethics Commission told him he could take not more than $200 in gifts from lobbyists, but for six years he was taking more.

"As early as 2006, Councilmember Cachola had developed a pattern and practice of annually accepting dozens of meals and golf worth thousands of dollars from lobbyists."

The fine was just for the period from 2008 to 2012. The commission counted 44 violations valued at more than $3,800.

The Council has an ordinance, which says if you get money from a lobbyist and then vote on the lobbyist’s bill, you have to say so. Cachola did take the money, took the vote and never said anything.

"He blatantly disregarded the ethics laws and the commission’s advisory opinions and his misconduct will undermine the Council’s integrity," wrote the commis- sion.

In response, Cachola gave the "but, everyone was doing it" excuse, saying the commission is picking on him because other Council members were also wining and dining with lobbyists and not reporting the conflict.

Could be — the Ethics Commission’s staff is still showing up for work every day and is said to be following up.

What Cachola didn’t say was: "I am sorry, I embarrassed my family, those who voted for me and my city; I learned an important lesson and will try to undo the shame I caused."

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.