The state Ethics Commission has fined a superintendent at the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s Highways Division in Hilo $3,000 for misusing state vehicles, resources and subordinate workers to help fix his personal truck.

The commission reached a settlement last month with Francis Kekaualua, a construction and maintenance superintendent for the DOT, over the charges.

On a Sunday last August, Kekaualua was in Kona on personal business when one of the tires on his personal truck blew out, according to the settlement. He was unsuccessful in finding a business in Kona to repair his truck that day, so he had a subordinate employee obtain the keys to a dump truck parked at the DOT’s North Kona base yard, which Kekaualua then drove 86 miles back to his home in Hilo. He left his personal truck parked at the Kona base yard.

The next day, Kekaualua had another subordinate load the DOT dump truck onto a lowboy trailer, drive it back to the North Kona base yard and return to Hilo with his truck. It took the employee about four hours to complete the task, which was carried out during regular work hours. The lowboy trailer was driven about 200 miles.

Kekaualua also had a division mechanic replace his truck’s tire, which was also done during regular work hours.

Kekaualua “cooperated with the commission during its investigation and was willing to accept responsibility for his actions; nevertheless, the commission believed that respondent Kekaualua’s actions demonstrated what appears to be a clear disregard of the state ethics code’s standards of conduct for state employees,” according to the commission’s resolution.

The commission wrote that Kekaualua likely violated the state Ethics Code’s fair treatment law, though the settlement does not constitute an admission of guilt or an official determination by the commission of wrongdoing.

Kekaualua didn’t return a call to his Hilo office.

This is the second time a DOT employee has been fined by the commission in recent weeks. Last month the commission announced that Jadine Urasaki, a former DOT deputy director for capital improvement projects, had paid a $13,000 fine to resolve allegations that she violated the ethics code by taking action on a dozen contracts with consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc., where her husband worked.