A contested case hearing over alleged ethics violations has been scheduled next month for Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Rowena Akana, who is accused of breaking the state’s gifts law, gifts reporting law and fair-treatment law.
The Hawaii State Ethics Commission accused Akana of accepting $72,000 in legal fees from Abigail Kawananakoa at a time when the OHA board of trustees, including Akana, was engaged in a lawsuit filed by the Campbell Estate heiress. Akana was also late in reporting the gift of legal fees.
The commission accused Akana of using her OHA trustee annual allowance to pay for an Apple iTunes gift card, a Hawaiian Airlines “Premier Club” membership, a home security system, home cable television service, food for herself and others, political contributions and donations to the Hawaiian Humane Society.
It is rare for the Ethics Commission to schedule a contested case hearing; most cases are settled beforehand.
But Akana, who has vehemently denied the charges, said she wanted a hearing to defend herself.
In addition, she has filed a lawsuit in 1st Circuit Court against the Ethics Commission. A motion by the commission to dismiss the lawsuit — or to at least stay the court proceedings pending the commission’s administrative process — is scheduled to be heard
Oct. 10.
Most of the ethics violations describe improprieties in Akana’s use of her annual allowance, including buying food for parties and OHA personnel, overpaying her home cable bill and buying other items for personal use.
Akana says most of the items were permitted under the board’s former personal spending policy and were approved by OHA’s accounting office.
She said she will argue that the Ethics Commission does not have jurisdiction over how OHA spends its trust funds — money set aside for Hawaiians from
ceded-land revenues.
Akana’s lawsuit also alleges that the commission is violating her equal-protection and due-process rights under the Hawaii Constitution and infringes upon her freedoms of speech and association. The suit contends that she is being singled out for actions that other OHA trustees have engaged in but never been charged for.
The contested case hearing is scheduled to start
Oct. 22 at Bishop Place,
Conference Room 611,
1132 Bishop St.
