Councilman files ethics complaint against Caldwell appointee

Honolulu City Councilman Trevor Ozawa has filed an ethics complaint alleging that one of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s appointees used city resources to give Ozawa’s political rival a boost in the upcoming election.

Ozawa said Misty Kela‘i, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts, used that agency’s Instagram account to “like” Instagram posts made by Tommy Waters, who is challenging Ozawa’s re-election bid this fall.

MOCA’s Instagram account features the city seal, and Kela‘i and the agency abused its authority and appeared to support Waters, Ozawa said. In addition to the “likes,” the MOCA account commented, “UDABESS! IMUA Hawaiian” on one of Waters’ photos.

The “likes” and comment have since been removed, but Ozawa felt it necessary to file a complaint, which he did May 23.

“These types of lapses in judgment are no excuse for such actions, especially during an election year,” he said in a statement.

The Honolulu City Charter spells out political activities that are not allowed, he added.

“Initial review of the circumstances and an inquiry with the city’s Ethics Commission Office have concluded that the actions of the MOCA Instagram account were found to be in violation of such charter provisions,” Ozawa said.

Caldwell spokesman Andrew Pereira said the administration was made aware of Ozawa’s complaint.

“Misty Kela‘i acknowledges that she made an honest mistake and has contacted Councilmember Ozawa’s office to personally apologize,” Pereira said in a statement. “This was a one-time, isolated incident and we will wait for the Ethics Commission to go through its process.”

The administration periodically reminds employees through a memorandum that “campaign activities are not allowed on city time using city equipment or property,” he said.

Ethics Commission Executive Director Jan Yamane said she could not confirm receiving the complaint, which Ozawa said he made verbally only.

Waters, in a written statement, thanked Kela‘i “for her heartfelt aloha.”

He said his campaign has not coordinated with any city official on social media.

“This is a distraction from the major issues in our race and the concerns of East Oahu residents,” Waters said. “This complaint demonstrates my opponent’s cynical nature — I know he’s aware that we have canvassed over 5,000 households and our campaign is picking up steam.”

In 2014, Waters finished second to Ozawa by 41 votes in the race for the Council 4th District seat to represent East Honolulu. Waters unsuccessfully challenged the results, arguing that the margin of error in the counting made it reasonable to believe a hand recount of the 4,445 blank votes could give a different outcome.

Waters and Caldwell both served in the state House of Representatives in the early 2000s and have been allies in the past, while Ozawa has been among the mayor’s harshest critics since arriving at the Council.

Two others have filed nomination papers for the 4th District seat. They are Natalie Iwasa, who finished third behind Ozawa and Waters four years ago, and newcomer Ricky Marumoto.