Less than two weeks after the city Ethics Commission announced former Honolulu City Councilman Nestor Garcia had been fined $8,100 for ethical breaches, Garcia quit his job as a television reporter at KHON2 effective Friday.
Garcia told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that he was not coerced by the station to resign, but that he did so on his own because "under the circumstances, I thought it was the best for all concerned."
He said he is not aware personally of any negative feedback that the station may have received for keeping him on the job after his agreement with the Ethics Commission became public. But he said his own instinct said it was time to resign.
Lori Silva, KHON news director, could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Garcia told the Star-Advertiser that he is "truly remorseful" for his actions.
"The institution (of journalism) has been taking knocks lately," Garcia said. "Just as I don’t want people to lose faith in their government, I don’t want people to lose faith in the people who report the news."
Garcia served on the Council from 2003 to 2013, including several years as chairman. A reporter with KHON from 1981 to 1991 before being elected to the state House of Representatives in the 1990s, he returned to broadcast journalism in February 2014.
The Ethics Commission advisory opinion against Garcia stated he accepted free meals and golf from companies and people who benefited from votes on the city’s $6 billion rail project and several major development projects in West Oahu.
Garcia should have disclosed that he had a conflict of interest before each of the votes, the commission report said.
"I want to sincerely apologize for the mistakes I committed when I was in office," Garcia said. "I think the best way for me to deal with this is to man up, own up and pay up."
The apology, he said, is to his family and friends, his former constituents and the people of Oahu.
The infraction was the second for Garcia. In June 2012 he agreed to pay the city $6,500 in civil fines for failing to discloseconflicts of interest after taking votes on bills favored by the Kapolei Chamber of Commerce, of which he was executive director.
The more recent case stems from an allegation made last year by former City Councilman Romy Cachola — after he was fined by the commission — that he was being unfairly singled out when others also accepted meals and golf rounds but didn’t report them.
Besides Garcia, he named current Council members Ikaika Anderson and Ann Kobayashi, and former members Todd Apo and state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz as having received gifts before taking votes.
Cachola said to reporters then that it could be argued that all the votes that the Council cast during that period could be invalidated.
Ethics Commission Executive Director Chuck Totto said it’s clear to his staff that votes taken that may have benefited those who gave Garcia the gifts should be invalidated.
But city Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, after reading Totto’s comments, said it wasn’t up to Totto, his staff or the commission to determine what Council legislation should be invalidated.
Laura Figueira, chief aide to Council Chairman Ernie Martin, said that her boss has asked Leong to look into the situation.
Garcia declined to comment when asked whether his votes should be invalidated.
