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The next installment of my research on who's funding our legislators' campaign races should be appearing this week in Honolulu Weekly. This one deals with agribusiness corporations such as Monsanto and Syngenta, which have heavy investments in both genetically modified crops and our legislators.
I've got a couple more campaign funding articles to spring after that. Nearly completed is a story about tobacco money in the legislature, which is already promised to Big Island Weekly. And then I've got a couple more pieces that I haven't finished researching yet and don't want to reveal until I've asked a few pointed questions of some specific legislators. After that, I'm going to be ready to take a break from the subject for a while. Anybody got something else they want investigated?
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Chevy Bites the Dust on the BI
Big Island Chevrolet is no more. Both the Kona- and Hilo-side dealerships have been taken over by GMAC, General Motor's finance wing, after the business's owner couldn't pay for the vehicles he'd purchased, in the wake of sales that had dropped over a third in the past year.
This touched me personally, unfortunately. I'm the owner of a 2000 Chevy Prizm. A Prizm is essentially a Toyota Corolla with a Chevy bow tie on the front, but some of the parts are just different enough from a Toyota's that you have to go through Chevy to get them. The tail lamps, for instance. I'd recently damaged a tail lamp, and after a fruitless search for a used one at local parts houses and on the Internet, I finally ordered one from BI Chevrolet for $216. That was last week. They said it would take about ten days to arrive. So when I heard on OC-16 last night that this would be the last day the dealership would be open, it was a call to action, even though I'm down with a bad respiratory infection.
This morning, I tried calling the Parts Department; no answer. So I jumped in the Prizm and, four cough drops later, walked into the department in the back of the dealership's sprawling Hilo complex.
The displays were already packed up, and the floor was strewn with boxes. There wasn't an employee in evidence at first, but after a few minutes' wait, one appeared from the back.
He told me that GMAC was taking over the the dealership and would probably call me when the part came in. In case they didn't, he gave me toll free number to call. Those of you who also are stuck with a GM product on this island should probably also save this number: 1-800-323-9935.
GM announced on May 8 that it would not be renewing the contracts of 1,100 dealerships nationwide when they came up for renewal in 2010. But Big Island Chevy was not on that list. It's demise was really a mass repo job: the local owner Alan Clark told the Tribune Herald that when he couldn't come up with enough capital to keep the business afloat and couldn't close a deal to sell the business fast enough for GM, GMAC seized all the company's assets, which had been used to collateralize the cars currently on the company's two lots. That doesn't seem to add up; the cars should be worth what Allen paid GMAC for them--or less, given that the company's good name has been sullied by its own instability, and very people on this island is going to buy a car that they have to take to O'ahu for service on the factory warranty. But I guess the furniture, computers, phones, and outstanding accounts are going to cover GMAC's interest.
That, of course, leaves all of us other creditors, such as me, at GM's mercy. I suddenly have a $216 stake in whether or not GM itself declares bankruptcy.
I wonder how many other dealerships across the country are simply being seized, as Island Chevrolet was. Those 1,100 whose contracts aren't being renewed may just be the tip of the iceberg.
This touched me personally, unfortunately. I'm the owner of a 2000 Chevy Prizm. A Prizm is essentially a Toyota Corolla with a Chevy bow tie on the front, but some of the parts are just different enough from a Toyota's that you have to go through Chevy to get them. The tail lamps, for instance. I'd recently damaged a tail lamp, and after a fruitless search for a used one at local parts houses and on the Internet, I finally ordered one from BI Chevrolet for $216. That was last week. They said it would take about ten days to arrive. So when I heard on OC-16 last night that this would be the last day the dealership would be open, it was a call to action, even though I'm down with a bad respiratory infection.
This morning, I tried calling the Parts Department; no answer. So I jumped in the Prizm and, four cough drops later, walked into the department in the back of the dealership's sprawling Hilo complex.
The displays were already packed up, and the floor was strewn with boxes. There wasn't an employee in evidence at first, but after a few minutes' wait, one appeared from the back.
He told me that GMAC was taking over the the dealership and would probably call me when the part came in. In case they didn't, he gave me toll free number to call. Those of you who also are stuck with a GM product on this island should probably also save this number: 1-800-323-9935.
GM announced on May 8 that it would not be renewing the contracts of 1,100 dealerships nationwide when they came up for renewal in 2010. But Big Island Chevy was not on that list. It's demise was really a mass repo job: the local owner Alan Clark told the Tribune Herald that when he couldn't come up with enough capital to keep the business afloat and couldn't close a deal to sell the business fast enough for GM, GMAC seized all the company's assets, which had been used to collateralize the cars currently on the company's two lots. That doesn't seem to add up; the cars should be worth what Allen paid GMAC for them--or less, given that the company's good name has been sullied by its own instability, and very people on this island is going to buy a car that they have to take to O'ahu for service on the factory warranty. But I guess the furniture, computers, phones, and outstanding accounts are going to cover GMAC's interest.
That, of course, leaves all of us other creditors, such as me, at GM's mercy. I suddenly have a $216 stake in whether or not GM itself declares bankruptcy.
I wonder how many other dealerships across the country are simply being seized, as Island Chevrolet was. Those 1,100 whose contracts aren't being renewed may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
All in the Family
If you think running for office on the Big Island is expensive, try running on O'ahu. While $2,000 or so would be a high-end donation for a Hawai'i Island legislator or councilmember, O'ahu officeholders often get the legal max of $4,000 per person (especially if the donor is a lawyer or contractor). Or, in some cases, more.
According to state law, campaign donations are limited $4,000 per candidate for each “person” donating; a "person," is defined as "An individual or any general partnership in which the individual belongs." But there are some big loopholes. Apparently, for instance, there's an exception for family members.
Take the case of Ann Kobayashi, for instance, who resigned her Honolulu council position last year in order to run for mayor.
Having the last name of Kobayashi can be pretty expensive at election time. Kobayashi got $8,000 out of Honolulu housewife Dawn Kobayashi, and another $4,000 out of financial advisor Dale Kobayashi of the same address. Mellon Capital Management portfolio manager Susan Kobayashi of San Francisco gave $10,000 to the cause. Honolulu Real estate Developer Burt Kobayashi added another $1000--but then, real estate developers commonly drop that much money on officeholders, whether they share the same last name or not.
Of course, small family fortunes like this are only a few drops in the bucket for a full-fledged O'ahu campaign these days. But it’s also possible to tap other families for more than the maximum donation, if you divide the donations between family members. Honolulu Attorneys Patricia and Arthur Park of Park, Park, Yu and Remillard, for instance, anted up $4,000 each for Kobayashi. So did J Frances E. and Francis Y. Toyama, who both reside at the same Nu’uanu address, and John and Charlene Flynn, who share an address in Nevada, Missouri. Honolulu Accountant Betty Lou Stroup and retiree Edward Stroup, also both of the same address, chipped in another $4,000 apiece--and so did Betty Lou’s employer, Princess Abigail Kawanakoa. President Joseph Pickard of Community Planning and Engineering, Kaneohe, dropped in $4,000, and Melissa Pickard, who shares Joseph's address, added $3,000 on the same day. Wagdi A. Guirguis and Peter Melnyck, who are both listed as “President” of GMP Associates on Kobayashi’s campaign reporting forms, also put in $4,000 apiece.
Kobayashi donated $10,512 worth of postage stamps to her own campaign, but that apparently wasn’t enough, so Honolulu housewife Jane Kumabe to chipped in more stamps worth $3,825. Lawrence Kumabe, an attorney for the city’s Corporation Counsel office who shares Jane’s address, donated in another $800, boosting the Kumabe household’s contribution to $4,625. (Kobayashi also got $2,199 worth of postage stamps from City and County of Honolulu legislative aide Karen Yorimoto.)
One would think that, if the intent was not to skirt the $4,000 contribution limit, one also would also see members of the same households putting in smaller amounts. But in fact, I found only one couple on Kobayashi’s list who shared an address but whose dual contributions totaled less $7,000.
Kobayashi also hit up all the usual donors: labor unions, lawyers, developers, insurers, construction firms. Among other members of her “$4,000 club” were manager Teri Otani of the Honolulu structural engineering firm Mitsunaga & Associates; Hilo attorney Terence Yoshioka; Pueo Trucking Company owner John F. Souza III of Kapolei; Sheet Metal Worker's International Union Local 293; United Airlines manager Valerie Van Buren; Honolulu attorney James Wright, Island Title escrow officer Chin Davone Tan, and the Realtor's Political Action Committee,. The campaign committees of Scott Nishimoto, Scott Sakai and Romy Cachola gave $4,000 each from donations collected for their candidates. The Ironworkers Local added $3,775 to the kitty. All told, Kobayashi reported raising $637,490.84 during the 2006-2008 election period.
According to state law, campaign donations are limited $4,000 per candidate for each “person” donating; a "person," is defined as "An individual or any general partnership in which the individual belongs." But there are some big loopholes. Apparently, for instance, there's an exception for family members.
Take the case of Ann Kobayashi, for instance, who resigned her Honolulu council position last year in order to run for mayor.
Having the last name of Kobayashi can be pretty expensive at election time. Kobayashi got $8,000 out of Honolulu housewife Dawn Kobayashi, and another $4,000 out of financial advisor Dale Kobayashi of the same address. Mellon Capital Management portfolio manager Susan Kobayashi of San Francisco gave $10,000 to the cause. Honolulu Real estate Developer Burt Kobayashi added another $1000--but then, real estate developers commonly drop that much money on officeholders, whether they share the same last name or not.
Of course, small family fortunes like this are only a few drops in the bucket for a full-fledged O'ahu campaign these days. But it’s also possible to tap other families for more than the maximum donation, if you divide the donations between family members. Honolulu Attorneys Patricia and Arthur Park of Park, Park, Yu and Remillard, for instance, anted up $4,000 each for Kobayashi. So did J Frances E. and Francis Y. Toyama, who both reside at the same Nu’uanu address, and John and Charlene Flynn, who share an address in Nevada, Missouri. Honolulu Accountant Betty Lou Stroup and retiree Edward Stroup, also both of the same address, chipped in another $4,000 apiece--and so did Betty Lou’s employer, Princess Abigail Kawanakoa. President Joseph Pickard of Community Planning and Engineering, Kaneohe, dropped in $4,000, and Melissa Pickard, who shares Joseph's address, added $3,000 on the same day. Wagdi A. Guirguis and Peter Melnyck, who are both listed as “President” of GMP Associates on Kobayashi’s campaign reporting forms, also put in $4,000 apiece.
Kobayashi donated $10,512 worth of postage stamps to her own campaign, but that apparently wasn’t enough, so Honolulu housewife Jane Kumabe to chipped in more stamps worth $3,825. Lawrence Kumabe, an attorney for the city’s Corporation Counsel office who shares Jane’s address, donated in another $800, boosting the Kumabe household’s contribution to $4,625. (Kobayashi also got $2,199 worth of postage stamps from City and County of Honolulu legislative aide Karen Yorimoto.)
One would think that, if the intent was not to skirt the $4,000 contribution limit, one also would also see members of the same households putting in smaller amounts. But in fact, I found only one couple on Kobayashi’s list who shared an address but whose dual contributions totaled less $7,000.
Kobayashi also hit up all the usual donors: labor unions, lawyers, developers, insurers, construction firms. Among other members of her “$4,000 club” were manager Teri Otani of the Honolulu structural engineering firm Mitsunaga & Associates; Hilo attorney Terence Yoshioka; Pueo Trucking Company owner John F. Souza III of Kapolei; Sheet Metal Worker's International Union Local 293; United Airlines manager Valerie Van Buren; Honolulu attorney James Wright, Island Title escrow officer Chin Davone Tan, and the Realtor's Political Action Committee,. The campaign committees of Scott Nishimoto, Scott Sakai and Romy Cachola gave $4,000 each from donations collected for their candidates. The Ironworkers Local added $3,775 to the kitty. All told, Kobayashi reported raising $637,490.84 during the 2006-2008 election period.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Philip Morris's Campaign Generosity; Mufi Hanneman Money Glitch?
I've been continuing my voyage into the wacky, wonderful world of campaign finance. I've got a green light from the Big Island Weekly to do a story about tobacco money in local politics. And yes, local politicians have been calling for Philip Morris quite a lot, but it ain't easy to trace. Unlike, say, Anheuser Busch, which funnels its money through its own non-candidate committee, Philip Morris's money comes in sometimes under its company name, sometimes through its parent company, Altria; sometimes via its wholly owned lobbying subsidiary, Altria Commercial Services, sometimes through local lobbyists that the company hired, and sometimes through company officials. As a result, I'm having to go through every individual candidate's campaign filings to look for all the names....
In the process of doing that, meanwhile, I'm making other interesting discoveries. It's no suprise Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman's contributors include a long list of developers and lobbyists, both mainland and local, for instance--but one collection of entries particularly caught my eye. On June 19, 2007, three different partners in a Washington lobbying firm called The National Group dumped a total of $5,500 dollars into Hanneman's campaign spending fund.
State campaign spending laws limit contributions to $4000 per "person." A "person," for the law's purpose, is "An individual or any general partnership in which the individual belongs." The three lobbying partners' donation looks like a clear violation of the law. But if you're waiting for the Campaign Spending Commission to investigate, don't hold your breath. Last year, I brought a similar situation to their attention: Billy Kenoi's mayoral campaign got a huge influx of cash from various heirs of the Campbell Estate. Most of those contributions came in on the same day, and all of the heirs listed their profession as "entrepreneur" (a term used only by Campbell heirs among Kenoi's contributors--which strongly suggests that they planned their contributions together.
I asked the CSC if they were going to investigate.
"We don't go on fishing expeditions," I was told.
In the process of doing that, meanwhile, I'm making other interesting discoveries. It's no suprise Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman's contributors include a long list of developers and lobbyists, both mainland and local, for instance--but one collection of entries particularly caught my eye. On June 19, 2007, three different partners in a Washington lobbying firm called The National Group dumped a total of $5,500 dollars into Hanneman's campaign spending fund.
State campaign spending laws limit contributions to $4000 per "person." A "person," for the law's purpose, is "An individual or any general partnership in which the individual belongs." The three lobbying partners' donation looks like a clear violation of the law. But if you're waiting for the Campaign Spending Commission to investigate, don't hold your breath. Last year, I brought a similar situation to their attention: Billy Kenoi's mayoral campaign got a huge influx of cash from various heirs of the Campbell Estate. Most of those contributions came in on the same day, and all of the heirs listed their profession as "entrepreneur" (a term used only by Campbell heirs among Kenoi's contributors--which strongly suggests that they planned their contributions together.
I asked the CSC if they were going to investigate.
"We don't go on fishing expeditions," I was told.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
SB 884 passes, but campaign fund safe.
After several delays, Senate Bill 884, which raids several special funds to help with the state's billion-dollar-plus projected deficit, has passed. Among the hardest-hit funds: the Hawaii Tobacco Settlement Fund, which loses $20 million to the general fund; the Housing Finance Revolving fund, also $20 million, and the Wireless Enhanced 911 Fund, out $16 million. A bit of good news: the legislature backed off a proposal to raid the Campaign Elections Fund after getting a letter from the the State Attorney General that said such a raid would probably be unconstitutional. So it looks as if the pilot project for publicly funded council elections on this island will probably move forward as scheduled.
The current version of the bill on display at the legislature's Web site, which I assume is the final version, apparently does not find that there is a specific amount of "excess funds" that can be be taken from the HI 5 beverage container deposit fund. But it does give the legislature the authority to make that determination in the future, and takes that authority away from the State Auditor. So we may see another attempt to raid the HI 5 fund in the next legislative session.
The current version of the bill on display at the legislature's Web site, which I assume is the final version, apparently does not find that there is a specific amount of "excess funds" that can be be taken from the HI 5 beverage container deposit fund. But it does give the legislature the authority to make that determination in the future, and takes that authority away from the State Auditor. So we may see another attempt to raid the HI 5 fund in the next legislative session.
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Gravy Train Article is Online
To see who's bankrolling some of your local legislators, click the following link to the Big Island Weekly.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Bill 884 Moved to Wednesday
The title says it all. I assume that, since they haven't heard the bill yet, they're still accepting testimony.
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