There is just something about public corruption and Hawaii politics that just fits comfortably together.
Some office holders, like former Gov. Linda Lingle, made a career out of being firmly against corruption. And many nonvoters say they stay away from politics because they “know all the politicians are crooks, anyway.”
Still there are others who just view politicians as lovable rascals.
Today we are at one end of the pendulum’s swing. With good reason, the public is aghast at the performance of former state Rep. Ty J.K. Cullen and retired Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English, charged and expected to plead guilty to accepting cash bribes for influencing the fate of legislation in the state Legislature.
There’s obviously nothing lovable about this pair’s actions. According to the federal indictment, they took cash, dinners and trips in exchange for alternatively supporting and then killing a bill regarding sewer work for the head of a Honolulu cesspool and wastewater company.
It is English’s second brush with the law.
He was indicted by an Oahu grand jury on April 20, 1988, on a charge of promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree. He was arrested on the cocaine possession charge May 4, 1988, according to court records. English pleaded guilty to the charge, but Oahu Circuit Judge Wendell Huddy deferred acceptance of the guilty plea if English kept out of trouble. In 1990, Huddy determined that English complied with the conditions and dismissed the charge.
Now times are not so forgiving, and English and Cullen are facing federal action this week.
It is up to the state Legislature to define exactly how hard a view we take about crooked politicians.
Already we know that the federal government has gone after members of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting for accepting money to speed up building permits. Katherine and Louis Kealoha are in federal prison and not working for the city prosecutor’s office nor the police department, respectively, thanks to work by the federal government.
Dirty Honolulu pols and prison just go together.
The late Rod Tam, a former Honolulu City Councilman and state lawmaker, was busted for 26 counts of overcharging the city for meals with constituents. Former Councilman Andy Mirikitani was convicted in 2001 of federal theft and bribery for paying bonuses to former aides for kicking back a portion of their salary to him and his campaign. Former Council- woman Rene Mansho served a year in prison for felony theft convictions for misusing campaign funds. Former state Senate President James Aki was convicted of first-degree promotion of gambling and unlawful ownership or operation of a business, but was granted a deferred acceptance of no-contest plea, which means he would not be convicted of felony gambling charges. And former House Speaker Daniel Kihano was found guilty of 15 of 23 counts, including money laundering, obstruction of justice and filing a false income tax return. He was granted “compassionate release” from prison after he suffered a near-fatal heart attack while serving a two-year sentence in Lompoc, Calif.
This wave of criminality is not a new thing. In 1955 Anthony Baptiste Jr., then the Kauai County chairman, equivalent to being mayor, was sentenced to a year in federal prison for failure to file a federal tax return.
Getting tough on crime is good. It is up to the current Legislature to see if that also means getting tough on politicians.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
