The State's Support of Puwalu

posted in: May 2009 | 0

The greatest financial support for the third puwalu, held in Honolulu on December 19-20, 2006, came not from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council or the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Rather, it came from the state Coastal Zone Management program, housed in the Office of Planning within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism
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According to Doug Tom, program manager, Leimana DaMate first approached him, and then “Kitty [Simonds] came to see me” about sponsoring the puwalu. Tom said that while developing the state Ocean Resources Management Plan, he sought to bring more Hawaiians into the process, and he viewed this as a good way of doing so.

Documents that Tom provided indicate that the CZM share of the cost came to just under $50,000. Of that, $26,749.75 went directly to the Ala Moana Hotel for meeting rooms and other services (coffee break refreshments and the like) for three days (the two days of the puwalu, plus a pre-conference meeting on the December 18). A second payment of $23,150.07 was paid to Pacific Rim Concepts, LLC, to cover the lodging costs for 58 puwalu participants.

Not all participants enjoyed the same level of comfort at the hotel, to judge from the state’s records.

Most of them were in rooms where rates were $166 a night. Most participants also stayed just one night, arriving the morning of the 19th and departing the evening of the 20th. But state Rep. Mele Carroll stayed three nights in a premium room ($277.41 a night, for a total of $832.23), as did Jean Ilei Beniamina of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau and Alice Worthy. Carroll, a Maui Democrat, was at the time vice chair of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection. Beniamina now sits on the state `aha kiole committee, established by the Legislature as a result of the political activity inspired by the puwalu. (Puwalu briefing books included brief write-ups of Carroll, Beniamina and most other participants. Worthy was not mentioned, however.)

In her gift disclosure form covering the period of the third puwalu, Carroll does not list the comped hotel room or the several meals that were included for conference participants. An attorney with the state Ethics Commission stated that because the conference was apparently sponsored by a federal agency, the commission would not be likely to find her non-disclosure to be a violation of its rules.

According to the fishery management council, it paid out $49,505 for the event. OHA contributed $25,000, the council records show. OHA did not respond to requests for information by press time. However, the program indicates that OHA hosted a luncheon at the hotel.

The Hawai`i Tourism Authority paid $10,000 in support of the first puwalu. According to a staff person with the HTA, the money was not designated for any specific purpose. She said that the agency had been approached by DaMate with the proposal to help underwrite conference costs. The check was made payable to PIRMI, she said.

— Patricia Tummons

Volume 19, Number 11 May 2009

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