Funding of police chief’s severance raises dispute

Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha’s retirement agreement with the Police Commission calls for him to receive $250,000 from the Honolulu Police Department’s salaries and wages budget.

But does the commission have the authority to spend HPD money?

The question is particularly relevant because Acting Police Chief Cary Okimoto is making it clear he does not — and has not — supported paying the severance from the department’s coffers.

While HPD takes no position on the terms of the agreement, “we are, however, opposed to the use of departmental monies to fund any form of severance payment,” Okimoto said in an email statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday.

“This position was clearly expressed to the chair prior to the Honolulu Police Commission’s meeting to discuss Chief Kealoha’s settlement,” Okimoto said. “The HPD at no time agreed to fund the settlement.”

Neither the Honolulu City Charter nor the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, the two key documents that guide how the City and County of Honolulu functions, specifically give the seven-member commission authority to spend HPD money. Its main responsibilities are to hire and fire the chief, evaluate the chief’s performance, review and recommend changes to HPD’s rules and regulations, review complaints filed against the department and make reports on them to the chief, and review the annual budget prepared by the chief and make recommendations to the mayor. The Police Commission’s budget must be approved by the City Council.

But Police Commission Chairman Max Sword, in an email response Tuesday, said expending money for a settlement is part of the act of removing the chief, a clear responsibility of the commission.

“The Honolulu Police Commission is given the sole authority, under the revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu, to appoint and terminate the chief of police, and this authority includes the terms of employment and retirement, including severance payment,” Sword said.

The Charter, however, calls for the city Salary Commission to establish the annual salary of the chief, currently at $182,088, as well as that of other city department heads.

The final portion of the Charter’s section on the Police Commission states, “Except for purposes of inquiry or otherwise provided in this Charter, neither the commission nor its members shall interfere in any way with the administrative affairs of the department.”

Sword, in his email to the Star-Advertiser, also said, “As I had discussed with Acting Chief Cary Okimoto before the agreement was signed, the funds for the severance payment will come from the HPD’s salaries account. The commission thanks the HPD for its support of the commission.”

Asked to clarify whether that means he believes HPD needed to OK the payment, Sword said it did not. “I’m just thanking HPD for helping process the $250,000.”

Sword acknowledged that Okimoto had raised some concerns.

The acting chief first made those concerns known to the department’s 2,500 employees in a memorandum Jan. 19, the day after the deal was announced.

“For the record, I am opposed to the use of departmental monies to fund the severance payment,” Okimoto wrote. HPD officials did not participate in the discussions between Kevin Sumida, Kealoha’s attorney, and commission members, he said, and did not learn of the details until just before the Jan. 18 news conference held by commission members after emerging from a four-hour, closed-door meeting.

“As the leaders of this department, we have the responsibility to do what is best for the community and for all of our employees,” Okimoto told HPD employees. “We have an obligation to the public to maintain public safety and police services, and we will not take any action that could be detrimental to either.”

City Corporation Counsel Donna Leong participated in the discussions and executive session meeting, indicating that she, as the city’s chief legal adviser, thinks it’s OK to use HPD money for the settlement. Leong’s office Tuesday referred questions on the matter to Sword.

The agreement, which the commission released to the media, states that Kealoha’s last day will be Feb. 28. He was to continue to be on paid leave from his job through then.

Kealoha is to be paid within 15 days of the signing of the agreement. An HPD spokeswoman said no payment had been made as of Tuesday.

Of the $250,000, $190,000 is considered a severance payment while $60,000 is to pay for fees, costs and expenses.

City Councilman Brandon Elefante, chairman of the Council Public Health, Safety and Welfare Committee, said the circumstances surrounding Kealoha’s departure are unique. As a result, “we have to let the process play out. Then we can determine whether or not further action is needed,” he said.