Letters to the Editor for Sunday — February 08, 2004

• To the friends of Penny

• Attack on Watada

To the friends of Penny

Our sincere thank you for being so kind and helpful during our sad visit to Kauai after Penny’s (Hardenburgh) tragic death. The memorial service was beautiful. We are comforted knowing that Penny had such loving and supportive people in her life. We will never forget the true sense of community and care that everyone showed us.

Neil and Judi Oldridge

Glendale, WI

Attack on Watada

Sometimes we luck out with a government commission and an executive director that do exactly what they were mandated to do — and do it well. This is the case with the Hawai‘i Campaign Spending Commission, who have handed out fines totaling nearly $1,000,000 for illegal campaign contributions, and helped indict several wanton violators of state laws. The tax money that funds this Commission is largely drawn from the $2.00 check-off on yearly tax returns, so it is one of the few times citizens can indicate to the government what they want done with their tax money.

The laws Bob Watada enforces were the very laws passed by the Legislature years ago to set up the Commission to be as free of political influence as possible. Now comes along Senator Cal Kawamoto, who proclaims himself as Mr. Clean. Even while being investigated for misuse of campaign contributions. Kawamoto now is attempting to dismantle the Campaign Spending Commission and weaken its effective executive director, while attempting to exempt himself from the very irregularities for which he is being investigated. Kawamoto has introduced three bills (SB 2048, SB 2049, SB 2451) to muzzle Watada and the independence of the spending commission.

Of course this is NON POLITICAL! How long do you think any meaningful checks on campaign contributions and spending would go on if the bills authored by Senator Kawamoto were to be passed? Kawamoto has collected nearly $500,000 in campaign gifts since 1996 from special interests who have a stake in bills before the Transportation Committee he chairs; his current war chest holds around $300,000.

Why are we not surprised that Kawamoto is responsible for killing or rendering ineffective practically every real campaign spending reform bills during the last few years? He is especially hostile to the most radical reform of all, “Comprehensive Public Funding of Election Campaigns,” which would allow candidates who turn down gifts from private contributors to run effective campaigns.

Ira Rohter

co-chair, Green Party of Hawai‘i