Minutes for September 13, 2005

Campaign Spending Commission Meeting
Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building, Room 405
September 13, 2005
2:00 p.m.

Members Present:
Paul Kuramoto, Steven Olbrich, Gino Gabrio, Dean Robb, Michael Weaver

Staff Present:
Robert Watada, Tony Baldomero, Grant Tanimoto, Ellen Kojima

Call to Order:
Meeting convened at 10:05 p.m. with Chair Kuramoto presiding.

Consideration of Minutes:
Mr. Gabrio moved to accept the minutes of August 18, 2005 as corrected (correct spelling of Mr. Kawamoto’s name), Mr. Weaver seconded.  Motion carried.

Old Business:
Docket 04-05 Professional Results v. Miles Furutani
Complaint alleges that Mr. Furutani violated the campaign spending law when he failed to declare legal work done for Dalton Tanonaka’s campaign as contributions and he exceeded the contribution limits. 

Docket 04-06 Professional Results v. Dalton for Hawaii
Complaint alleges that the Dalton campaign committee exceeded the cap on campaign loans and that the committee did not report certain expenditures. 

Staff has issued a new complaint that addresses administrative issues as well as issues arising from the criminal investigation.  Request the matters be deferred to be taken up with the complaint to be discussed under New Business.

Mr. Olbrich moved to defer both complaints to be taken up with the new complaint to be discussed under New Business, Mr. Weaver seconded.  Motion carried.

New Business:
Appointment of New Executive Director
After the review and interview process, Barbara Uphouse Wong had been recommended as the new executive director to take over when Mr. Watada retires.  Ms. Wong will start October 1.

Mr. Olbrich moved to appoint Barbara Uphouse Wong as the new director of the Commission, Mr. Robb seconded.  Motion carried.

Ms. Wong thanked the Commission for entrusting her with the position and Mr. Watada for setting an excellent foundation on which to build upon and is very honored to accept the position.

Draft Conciliation Agreement 05-08 Nishimura Katayama & Oki, Inc and George Nishimura
Investigation of the 1996-2002 election period revealed three false name contributions to the Harris campaign.  Monies were moved from the company account into another account.  Staff recommends a fine $3,000.

Mr. Gabrio moved to approve the agreement as drafted, Mr. Waver seconded.  Motion carried.

Docket 05-03 In Re The Matter of Dalton Tanonaka, Dalton for Hawaii Campaign, Russell Hata, Carol Tsai, Miles Furutani and Lance Masatsugu

In attendance –
Dalton Tanonaka, Pam Tamashiro, representing Dalton Tanonaka; James, Kawashima, representing Miles Furutani; Lance Masatsugu

The complaint alleges failure to report contributions, receiving and making excess contributions, failure to report expenditures and failure to report loans resulting from unpaid expenditures.  Staff recommends that this complaint be consolidated with the two previous complaints (Dockets 04-05 and 04-06) because of overlapping issues.  The Commission on 10/13/04 voted to refer the complaint (Docket 04-06) to the prosecutor for criminal prosecution.  Since then Mr. Tanonaka has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney and sentencing is scheduled for November 2005.

Complaint sent to all parties, Mr. Hata met with staff upon receipt of the complaint and stated that he would be submitting a letter stating that his loan was a personal loan to Mr. Tanonaka.

Pam Tamashiro, representing Mr. Tanonaka asked for a continuance until after 11/5/05 when Mr. Tanonaka is scheduled to be sentenced.  He would like to settle the federal case before addressing this matter.

James Kawashima, representing Mr. Furutani introduced a letter written by Mr. Furutani stating that Mr. Tanonaka asked for what he thought was a personal loan.  He further stated that he did not intend to make a campaign contribution and that he had no knowledge that a majority of the loan was used for campaign purposes.

Mr. Masatsugu, also stated that Mr. Tanonaka asked for loan and that the loan was repaid within a year as they had agreed.

Mr. Olbrich moved to continue the matter until the October meeting pending further investigation, Mr. Weaver seconded.  Motion carried.  (Robb-recused)

Communication to Commission:
Tony Baldomero has been awarded the DAGS Sustained Superior Performance Award.

Next Meeting:
Scheduled for Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at 10:00 a.m.

Note – Mr. Kuramoto nominated Bob Watada for the COGEL Award.

Mr. Olbrich moved to adjourn meeting, Mr. Robb seconded.  Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.