Get to bottom of memorial ticket scandal

The scandal over the ticketing for visits to the USS Arizona Memorial was all the more disheartening because of its association with such a hallowed site. Thousands died in service of their country in the Pearl Harbor attacks 64 years ago, and visiting their memorial should not become a fundraising activity.

But that insult is exactly what transpired for more than half of 2013.

An investigation into the memorial park’s activities unearthed that staff for the memorial and Pacific Historic Parks, a nonprofit that raises money for the National Park Service, set aside what were supposed to be free tickets to tour the memorial and sold them with an audio tour for $6 apiece to tour companies.

The park officials stopped the practice — but fortunately, the federal government seems unwilling to leave it there, sources told Honolulu Star-Advertiser writer William Cole.

Those insiders reported that the FBI and Department of the Interior inspector general’s office have seized computers and cellphones and questioned employees. The agencies neither confirm nor deny that this is happening.

Under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, fees are prohibited for accessing certain properties, including the Arizona Memorial, Independence National Historical Park, any NPS unit within the District of Columbia, or Arlington House-Robert E. Lee National Memorial.

The associated charges included a $1.50 convenience fee collected by Recreation.gov for an online reservation system, and fees for audio headsets that came with a ticket.

Clearly, Pacific Historic Parks never should have become a ticket broker for the memorial.

Craig Dalby, a spokesman for the NPS Pacific West Region, said in response to a Star-Advertiser query that "the pairing of tickets with the audio tour rental offered by the park’s cooperating association was not consistent with NPS policy, and that practice was halted."

Beyond the matter of policy violation, the tickets were being resold at a steep markup, creating an unseemly "bazaar-like atmosphere."

That is not appropriate at any national park, least of all at a memorial.

Moreover, according to a January 2014 review, the park had no policies or standards for ticketing operations, providing "ample opportunity for abuse," with thousands of dollars moving between memorial staff and commercial tour operations, all without proper controls.

Paul DePrey — former superintendent of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which includes the Arizona Memorial — has been transferred, but that doesn’t close the books on this scandal.

The authorities rightly have picked up the trail, and they should get to the bottom of the accounting for all that money, as well as allegations of improper gifts being exchanged between the commercial operators and the park officials.

All of this behavior was corrosive to the work environment for memorial employees, who complained about the ticketing process but were told to "mind their own business."

But maintaining a sense of fairness and decorum at the memorial is the rightful business of staff, who reportedly have been demoralized by events.

The Arizona has been for more than six decades the watery grave for most of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed in the Pearl Harbor attack. The ticketing scandal now does them a severe dishonor.