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The contested case hearing alleging ethics violations against Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Rowena Akana will start Monday morning despite attempts in court last week to block or delay the proceeding.
The unusual state Ethics Commission hearing — only the third contested case in nearly 35 years — is expected to last at least a week and will feature lawyers and witnesses in a court-like setting.
The 28-year OHA trustee faces a fine of at least $50,000 after being named in a 50-count violation of the Hawaii State Ethics Code,
including infractions of
the state’s Gifts Law, Gifts Reporting Law and Fair Treatment Law.
The charges accuse Akana of such things as accepting a $72,000 cash gift to help pay for legal fees and for using her trustee allowance to buy home cable television services, a home security system and an
Apple iTunes gift card.
Akana fired back by filing a lawsuit in Honolulu Circuit Court accusing the Ethics Commission of violating her constitutional rights and of exceeding its jurisdiction and authority in dictating how OHA trust funds can be spent.
An Oct. 10 court hearing on a motion to dismiss the suit was postponed until Dec. 20 by Circuit Judge James Ashford.
It was a busy week for Akana’s attorney, Stephen Tannenbaum. On Tuesday, he filed for a temporary restraining order seeking to block Monday’s proceeding, arguing that the commission lacks jurisdiction and is overstepping its authority, among other things.
Ashford denied the TRO request on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Tannenbaum filed an agency appeal to the Circuit Court expressing similar arguments. Judge Keith Hiraoka isn’t expected to make an immediate ruling.
Tannenbaum said he was hoping to at least delay the hearing until after the Nov. 6 general election to allow Akana to campaign for re-election. The timing of the contested case hearing is consistent with what appears to be a campaign by Akana’s OHA rivals to “take her down,” he said.
OHA’s longest-serving trustee is being singled out for the same kind of actions other OHA trustees have engaged in but never had to face charges for, he said.
The commission’s charging document accuses Akana of accepting $72,000 in legal fees from Abigail Kawananakoa at a time when the OHA Board of Trustees, including Akana, was engaged in a lawsuit filed by the Campbell Estate heiress. Akana was also late in reporting the gift of legal fees.
Akana is also accused of using her OHA allowance to pay for a Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club membership, food for herself and others, political contributions and donations to the Hawaiian Humane Society.
The trustee has argued that much of her spending was approved by OHA’s accounting office. In any case, the money she spent came from ceded funds that are set aside for the exclusive use of Native Hawaiians, she noted.
Meanwhile, at least one OHA beneficiary has launched an online petition and website urging Akana to resign. Kau‘i Pratt said nearly 300 people had signed the petition at ponoleadershipnow.weebly.com as of Friday.
“We are at a time when we need strong leadership to address important issues such as mass incarceration, poor health, education and poverty for Hawaiians. Instead, in past years, we have faced unnecessary controversies and infighting at the hands of this trustee. Hawaiians deserve more,” Pratt said.
Most people charged with ethics violations end up settling with the commission before the process reaches the contested-case hearing stage. That’s what happened last year when OHA trustee Peter Apo agreed to pay a $25,000 fine after admitting he used the agency’s connections and resources to benefit his consulting firm.
The last Ethics Commission contested-case hearing was in 2012 and involved a Hawaii island charter school employee accused of representing both the school and his family business in financial transactions. The case was overturned by the state Supreme Court in 2016.
Before that, the last ethics contested-case hearing in Hawaii was in 1985.
Monday’s hearing, open to the public, is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at Bishop Place, 1132 Bishop St., Conference Room 611.
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