Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Campaign misdeeds will cost Berg $250, commission rules
The city councilman avoids a more severe penalty from charges levied by a former member of his staff
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 02, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 05:12 p.m. HST, Nov 02, 2012
Honolulu City Councilman Tom Berg was slapped with $250 in additional fines by the state Campaign Spending Commission on Thursday for failing to report campaign contributions and the purchase of a voter list when he first ran for office in 2010.
But the commission also voted to dismiss a more serious charge that Berg used his Council staff to conduct campaign activities during taxpayer hours, a charge that could have forced him to repay the city more than $28,000.
Commission members voted 3-0 to sustain charges that his campaign committee:
» Failed to report four contributions totaling $325.
» Failed to disclose the purchase of a voter email address list for $378.89.
The commission fined Berg $125 for each violation after Berg declared he is "broke." Commission staff attorney Gary K.H. Kam had recommended that Berg be fined $250 for each violation.
Berg blamed the errors on former chief of staff and campaign supporter Eric Ryan, who brought the complaint against his former boss.
Berg said Ryan is "in cahoots" with state Rep. Kymberly Pine, who is challenging Berg's re-election bid in Tuesday's election.
The commission also voted 3-0 to dismiss Ryan's charge that Berg forced him and other Council staffers to do campaign work on city time. Ryan estimated the cost of his own "in-kind" contribution to politicking at about $28,646 during his time working for Berg at taxpayers' expense.
In a written recommendation to the commission last month, Kam had preliminarily advised the commission to require Berg reimburse the city $28,646 and also be fined the maximum $2,000.
Kam said he changed his recommendation to a dismissal after Berg produced documents indicating he was diligent in making sure his staff did not conduct campaign work on city time. When he found out a member of his staff had spent city time working on campaign issues, Berg took immediate action, Kam said.
Berg told reporters after the meeting that Ryan "concocted and fabricated" charges against him after he fired him. Berg said it was Ryan who bought the voter list and controlled the account the four contributions were placed in.
"Everything that I've been fined for has gone through Eric Ryan's fingers," Berg said.
Ryan, reached in Los Angeles, said the commission rushed the meeting at Berg's request and did not review all of the evidence he submitted.
"In the end, the decision was based completely on cherry-picked evidence by Berg that doesn't even mean what it says," Ryan said, insisting that it was Berg who directed him and other staffers to conduct campaign activity on city time.
Five current and former Berg staffers told the commission that Berg told them specifically to not hold campaign activity on city time. Ryan also said Berg filed his own campaign spending reports.
Last month the commission fined Berg $250 for accepting 24 T-shirts without reporting them.
Ryan laughed when told Berg accused him of collaborating with Pine. "Baloney," he said. "I can't stand either of them."
Ryan, who once helped Pine with her campaign, has had his own legal entanglements with her. Pine said she has a restraining order against Ryan.
Commission fines Berg $250, clears him of more serious charge
Berg fined for not reporting T-shirt donation
I know you WANT to believe Tom Berg opposes corruption. But it's not true. Look at how much of his office budget went to produce "Team Berg" t-shirts and other paraphernalia, which was CLEARLY campaign paraphernalia, as it serves no legitimate function attached to Berg's duties as councilmember. AAnd, in fact, his employees WORE the shirts during campaign activities. In addition, Berg fired one of his city staffers for not advancing his agenda well-enough during her offhours, while serving on a neighborhood board! There is no question Berg was requiring his staffers to serve as his campaign workers, whether it happened during their official office hours or during their "private" time. It was a condition of employment.
While it is common for politicians to hire supporters and to expect their employees to also campaign for them, Berg was much more blatant about it than most. And the mis-use of Team Berg materials was shocking. Is that manini compared to the corrupting influence of the Rail money on the council and the mayoral race? Is it manini compared with Nestor Garcia's conflict of interest or that of Apo before him? Yes.
But it is foolish for Berg supporters to blind themselves to his VERY real faults, including his abuse of city resources, his violation of campaign spending laws by helping set up dummy "independent" campaigns and his eagerness to "fire" anyone who disagrees with him, whether it is his staff, HPD officers or a Secret Service agent. The man is a very flawed, very twisted individual. You deserve better. And Kym Pine is NOT better.
Pine is the poster girl for lying, deceit and incompetence.
OK, that was an overstatement. SOME politicians, and I include members of both parties, are sane, balanced personalities. But far too many are warped and needy. And those who do not start off that way are subject to very odd, very unhealthy pressures and inducements. It is hard to remain grounded.
Tom Berg is an extreme example of a maladjusted person seeking prestige and meaning through elective office. He is locked into an oppositional mode, which reinforces the tendencies already too strong in the extremes of both parties to regard those you disagree with as evil, corrupt or idiotic.
And because Tome thinks the "other side" engages in massive corruption, he thinks it is realistic for him to engage in widespread PETTY corruption, like his abuse of his staff for campaign purposes and misappropriation of office funds for campaign purposes.
And every Berg supporter who badmouths Eric Ryan should slow down long enough to ask themselves why Tom Berg (and Kym Pine) hired Eric Ryan in the first place? Eric has LONG been known to be untrustworthy, to turn on his former employer and betray their secrets? When Berg and Pine colluded with Eric to set up those dummy "community organizations" to attack their political opponents, NO ONE can think that was innocent. It was wittingly illegal and unethical.
So your champion against the Rail (a lousy project) and (for others) against GMOs, is an unstable, rude, scoundrel. I think voters in the district should vote for him over Pine. But with their eyes open. And stop pretending you don't know how screwed up he is. Everyone else can see it, regardless of our position on Rail or GMOs.
You may not WANT to agree with the rest of my post. But every statement I made there can be backed up with evidence. Tom Berg is a very messed up individual. A lot of people get involved in politics for a lot of reasons. A sane person may very well consider running for office because he/she thinks they are at a place in their life where they can "give back to the community" and are interested in policy, politics or both. But you give up a heckuva lot in exchange. And so does your family. I prefer having a private life and to walk along the street unnoticed.
But a lot of politicians either start off motivated by unhealthy impulses or they get twisted in the process. Not everyone in politics is healthy, whether from your party or mine. Tom is a particularly extreme. I am sure he believes he is a white knight fighting against evil and corrupt forces. But some people, convinced "the other side" are much worse, will justify their own corruption as necessary to the job. And so the slippery slope begins to move under one's feet.
Those of you you like Berg should take time to reflect upon the fact he CHOSE to hire Eric Ryan, first for his campaign, then as chief of staff. Eric had a well-established reputation as a dirty fighter, but also as someone with a history of turning on his employers and "blowing the whistle" on them for misdeeds. Misdeeds which Eric was a willing participant in. Both Berg and Pine hired Eric, knowing full well what kind of person he was. And they got bit by their own mad dog when he --SURPRISE--turned on them. But they are not innocent! When they directed him to set up those dummy community organizations to attack their political opponents, they knew they were violating campaign spending laws. And they knew they were being unethical.
I get that Tom is "fearless" in opposing the lousy Train project. For others, he is also "fearless" in opposing GMOs, an issue few anti-railers care about. (In fact, most Republicans tend to dismiss concerns over GE food.) But just because you are stuck with Tom as your champion on the council, should not cause you to close your eyes to his ethical lapses, his rudeness and his other defects. You deserve a better "champion." The residents of Council District 1 deserve a better councilmember. Unfortunately, Pine is NOT that person.
But if politicians can be "corrupt," so can their supporters. And those who make excuses for Tom or who shut their eyes to his defects are not only "enablers." They are also "corrupt," but as voters.
‘Soul Sessions’ feat. Taimane
