State Senate to hold hearings on UH's Wonder concert debacle

Great. We already wasted enough money on this fiasco and now we involve the State Legislature. It is a good thing we don't have real problems for the Leg to focus on.

Can't just sweep it under the rug.

Sometimes in business, that is exactly what makes sense for all involved.

I initially misread the headline as saying the UH Faculty Senate would be holding hearings on the concert fiasco and thought, "This is an interesting development. It is great to see the "sleeping giant" finally rise from its slumber and start taking an interest in helping fix the dysfunctional university.

Now that I see it is the STATE Senate, I am less optimistic for an honest exchange of ideas.

I thought everything was swept under the rug ALREADY.......more nonsense to come....

Well ,it's about time Greenwood and Apple, be called to the carpet , why the lies? what happened to the money, no one caught yet? who else going to be held accountable , how about the President of UH ? It's time to ask for her resignation. This has been a monumental waste of taxpayer money and total incompetenancy from the top of the order!! We not only need a athletic director ,we need a new president of the UH system. Increasing tuition every year, cutting classes , and ignoring needs of teaching staff , poor facility maintenance, wasted money going to endless top heavy administrative positions that are not needed. Clean House !Legislature, Take back the University, they show they can't run it on there own, !!!

it'll be a "Wonder" if they dole out any punishment to the BOR, greenwood and the rest of the ilk.

Do we need an audit of the UH system by Marion Higa. She's not one to pull any punches and will do a complete audit with recommendations for improvements. It may be a monumental task, but would be well worth the time and effort.

I would suspect that the UH guys won't bother to appear.

What do they need to know? Donovan was the head of a department that got snookered out of $200K. He should have been fired, and use that several hundred thousands of dollars you were going to pay him in a made-up position to defend yourself against his litigation.

I hope the question as to why Donovan was removed if he was doing such a great job and drill them until the truth comes out. Also who was the counsel who reviewed and signed off on the contact and the name of the financial officer who cut the check and why they thought it was important to black out their names.

Why don't we fire the whole UH Manoa board of directors! That will solve the problem.

Progress! The students and tax payers in Hawaii deserve full disclosure.

"Senate President Shan Tsutsui appointed a special committee on accountability "to conduct an informational briefing or briefings, as may be necessary, to review the oversight, accountability and transparency of the operational and financial management of the University of Hawaii system"

As long as they have everyone together like that, they ought to take a look at the oversight, accountability and transparency of the operational and financial management of Honolulu Rail.

I can not wait to read the completely toothless resolution they write.

I wonder if they're going to be sworn in? If memory serves, the last time Takai held hearings, they were "informal" and no one was sworn in.

Oh, so the Democrats are going to pretend to care.

I am mystified why the UH CFO has never been interviewed in the Wonder Blunder fiasco. How was the money wired to Never Never Land without proper fiscal controls and oversight? How does the Chancellor and the President create a new, high paying position without any regard for other budgeted hiring and funding offsets? Are we still in the Fantasy Stage of Alice in Wonderland and not coming out to Reality?

After two books, hundreds of letters, thousands of emails, and a score of articles in the alternative press, the mainstream media and community is finally talking candidly about the University of Hawaii executive administration. I am extremely proud to have been a part of this process, and I only hope that the next generation of journalists and leaders will continue to hold the administration accountable. Although the facts vary from case to case in the series of adminstrative scandals, debacles, and coverups, THE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR REMAIN THE SAME: incompetence, misfeasance, malfeasance, and unethical misconduct. Moreover, this is not the first time that the university's vice president for legal affairs, Darolyn Lendio, has been implicated for violations of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct and local rules of ethics. Specifically, on file with the State of Hawaii Office of Disciplinary Counsel is a 70 page report entitled "University of Malice" which, although the facts are different from the present cluster of administrative issues, echoes similar patterns of administrative misconduct which Lendio and the senior administration were involved in. After thirty years in the legal arena, and clerking for three judges, including a chief justice, I can assure you that the investigative report that the university paid for most probably steered away from the treacherous shoreline to save the ship. Be well, David A. Mihaila, J.D.

It's great to see the legislature so interested in how the public's money is spent. Too bad, the city council is so flat tire when it comes to watching how the city spends our tax dollars.

Mercado Kim will grandstand.

Say what you will but this kangaroo court will be a lot more entertaining than a Stevie Wonder concert (circa 2012).

This is what I want these State legislatures to find out: There is documented evidence that UH President Greenwood LIED to the public regarding Greenwood's personal knowledge or lack of knowledge regarding UH's dealings and involvement with the Stevie Wonder concert project. Can this be used to fire Greenwood for cause, WITHOUT any negative legal or financial consequence to the State? Obviously UH board of regents do NOT want to explore this option so if State legislatures can build a legitimate case to warrant firing Greenwood, they should build they case and present it to the BOR and the public. Mark Takai should also reintroduce the proposal to combine the UH President with the UH Manoa chancellor position and eliminate the UH Manoa chancellor section to save UH and taxpayers something like $20 million per year. Greenwood would be removed and Apple by default will be the next combined UH President/UH Manoa chancellor. Think of this loss of $200,000 as a potential "gift" that will allow UH to be rid of an incompetent leader and save millions in wasted administration costs in the process. Might want to get rid of all of the 6 figure public relation positions starting from Lynne W, on down as well. This plan of retaining Apple provides some administrative stability and continuity, however removing Greenwood and the UH Chancellor office administration will FINALLY start removing the out of control, overpriced bureaucratic layers that is doing more harm than good; and steer UH in the right direction, which is out of the GUTTER.

I'm sure there are rules and protocol already in place that should have prevented $200,000 from being wired to a con artist. So: 1) where did the breach of protocol occur; 2) who breached the protocol; and 3) what's going to be done to make sure this doesn't happen again? Shouldn't the investigation by the high-powered law firm have found this out? They don't need a senate grandstanding committee to convene. Tsutsui just needs to tell Greenwood to send him the answers to those three questions by Monday or don't bother submitting the athletic department's budget in January.

Did you notice when Greenwood and her clueless staff were in front of TV cameras how they all looked like they were on drugs, deer in the headlight, a million miles away. No one exuded a professional image like they knew what they were talking about. Basically monosyllable answers. And we pay them how much money? Obviously we should tell all of them not to expect a bonus or a new contract. When your time is up, pack your bags and get out of here. Losers all of them. State Auditor Marion Higa needs to check UH finances and if she finds problems, fire Greenwood for failure to lead. I'm sure her contract has these clauses. Once again UH Manoa looks like a little 5th world school, hasn't got a clue what to do, how to act. Clean house now.

Why bother. Legislators have no power to compell UH personnel to appear. Photo op for everyone.