Keep eye on money and politics

The intersect of land and power has been part of Hawaii’s history since long before statehood. But it’s been in the last half-century that land development has grown so lucrative that the connection has become the primary fuel for the islands’ political life and economic agenda.

The conduit for this fuel, of course, is the pipeline of campaign contributions flowing between the business community and politicians. The pathway is trackable through public records, but unearthing exactly who is funding whose campaign war chest is far too difficult for most of the general public.

Nowhere has the land-power link become more evident in recent years than in the redevelopment of Kakaako.

An analysis by writer Rob Perez, published in Sunday’s Star-Advertiser, connects the dots between entities in the development industries and Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Once opposed to the Kakaako planning authority, the governor now champions residential and commercial growth in the formerly industrial waterfront district.

The planning is directed by the state Hawaii Community Development Authority, established in 1976 to coordinate development according to a master plan drawn up with public input. And yet the critique of HCDA’S work is that it’s being driven by development interests with too few considerations made for ordinary people.

The connection Perez traced between the HCDA and companies such as Mitsunaga & Associates Inc. illuminates the industry’s strong position in the government’s decision making. Mitsunaga & Associates is an engineering and architectural firm HCDA hired for the renovation of the historic American Brewery Building. Lois Mitsunaga, an engineer with the firm and the daughter of its owner, is vice chairwoman of the HCDA board, a fact cited in a lawsuit over that renovation project.

Mitsunaga said she recuses herself from discussions and decisions involving her family’s company. Viewing this episode narrowly, that is the correct stance.

But her very presence on HCDA’s board, and the sizable contributions totaling over $130,000 made to Abercrombie’s two gubernatorial campaigns by employees and others associated with the company, under- score the public-policy concern that hovers over Kakaako.

The governor appointed Mitsunaga and the other board members who serve alongside Cabinet members. And this company is only one example. Abercrombie has collected nearly $370,000 through December from individuals with ties to Kakaako business interests and HCDA.

The community has pushed back, with some success, against some of the development plans at public hearings and in demonstrations. However, that’s not a sufficient counterweight. The structure of the governing board should be re-examined to include more community advocates, unaffiliated with industry, among its voting members.

Improving the diversity of the HCDA board was among the original intents of House Bill 1866, which is up for decision-making Wednesday, but the current version of the bill has eliminated the language amending the appointment process. As the bills move to conference committees, some way to ensure better balance on the agency board should prevail.

Recent campaign finance reforms have included a law aimed at curbing the "pay to play" system of contributions, barring contractors doing government business from donating to local candidates. That was a critical first step.

And there have been advances made toward greater transparency as well. The searchable online database of the Campaign Spending Commission lists business associations of candidate donors.

What’s needed — whether from the commission itself or an outside good-government organization — is cross-indexing with lists of companies involved in current projects. More must be done to enable average citizens to spot the connections.

And it’s essential that people be equipped to spot them. The public must understand what’s powering politics, and vote accordingly. Otherwise, the reins steering the future of this state move beyond their grasp.