Wednesday, May 22, 2013
City special events coordinator resigns after ethics report
POSTED: 12:12 p.m. HST, Dec 30, 2011
LAST UPDATED: 01:32 p.m. HST, Dec 30, 2011
The Honolulu Ethics Commission said in a press release today that the city's special events coordinator has resigned in the wake of accusations that she has blatantly abused her position and egregiously misused city resources.
Patty Teruya, the commission said, was allowed to resign rather than face a contested case hearing.
Teruya is former chairwoman of the Waianae Neighborhood Board as well as the Nanakuli/Maili Neighborhood Board, and was also a candidate in last year's special election to fill the City Council seat vacated by Todd Apo. She has been an outspoken community leader over the years.
The ethics commission said her resignation came at its meeting on Dec. 19.
"The Commission deemed Ms. Teruya's alleged violations so 'numerous and egregious' as to make her 'unfit for continued employment with the city' if proved," the press release said.
The commission also said in its release:
Based on an investigation it found probable cause that Teruya:
>> "Misused her city computer privileges by accessing 2,135 non-work related websites over a two-month period;
>> "Sent and received 174 non-work related emails within the span of four months to support her campaign for Council, as well as the campaigns of city and state politicians; to conduct job searches for her boyfriend; to sell her boat; and for personal shopping;
>> "Exploited her authority as Special Events Coordinator over non-profit organizations and vendors to make them submit letters of recommendation to bolster and advance her city career; and
>> "Endorsed her close friend for service contracts for at least eight city- sponsored events to the exclusion of other contractors.
"These violations are some of the most blatant I've seen in the city, and happened after the Commission staff, her department head and 2 other city agencies told her not to misuse public resources for her own benefit" said Chuck Totto, the Executive Director and Legal Counsel for the Commission.
City Ethics Commission advisory opinion on Patty Teruya
I can't comment on the allegations against Teruya, as I have not looked into them, nor do I know her. But the city has had a "culture" of abuse by public employees for a long time. Look at how many Hannemann employees were posting comments on blogs and in the comment sections of this paper during recent campaign seasons. Look again at the allegations against Councilman Tom Berg, who CLEARLY believed his office staff were interchangeable with his campaign operation in a way I have never seen ANY elected official take advantage.
Because the information has been exposed by Eric Ryan, a person many find distasteful, mean-spirited, and untrustworthy, all the allegations need to be closely scrutinized rather than accepted uncritically. But Ryan has documented systematic arrogance and abuse by Berg. He not only used city employees and funds for campaign purposes, he fired city employees for not doing his political bidding during their off-hours. The videos of his obnoxious, perhaps drunken behavior at the APEC event or his non-drunk behavior at the NHB or during council meetings, are not the only problem with Berg. If Teruya is guilty of what is alleged, it is right that she should resign and, perhaps, be billed to reclaim public monies she misused. But this is also true of Tom Berg. It seems like BOTH these folks may have been using taxpayer money to subsidize their campaigns against each other! Let's root out the sense of entitlement some city officials seem to have where they cannot separate what is proper city business from their campaign activity.
Why are taxpayers buying T-Shirts for "Team Berg"? Same smell!
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