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Politics, Commentary, Community
Politics, Commentary, Community Wednesday
13Feb
Campaign commish fines Naeole $300
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 07:49PM Mostly sloppy reporting violations; 13 of 18 charges dismissed
Councilwoman Emily Naeole gestures while seated during the testimony of her former aide Barbara Hale at the Campaign Spending Commission hearing on Hale's charges against her former boss and campaign co-chair. Behind Naeole are her Kupuna Council attorneys, Stan Roehrig, left, and Gerard Lee Loy, and Donna Walker, former treasurer for Friends of Naeole.
Puna Makai Councilwoman Emily Naeole was fined $300 today by the state Campaign Spending Commission for five violations of failing to properly report donations to her campaign for the County Council in 2006.
The Commission also dismissed 13 other campaign fund-related charges that were made by Naeole’s former campaign co-chair and legislative aide Barbara Hale.
Naeole appeared before the Commission during a three-and-a-half hour hearing in Honolulu with her two attorneys, Stan Roehrig and Gerard Lee Loy, her administrative aide Gwen Kupahu, and her former Campaign treasure, Donna Walker.
Baraba Hale testifying at Wednesday's Campaign Spending Commission hearing in Honolulu. >
Naeole was fined $50 each for four violations, including failing to deposit campaign funds within seven days, failing to report the in-kind donation of a pig to the campaign, improperly reporting a campaign expense, and failing to report the purchase of a radio advertisement.
The fifth violation involved a $1,000 check that Hale wrote to Naeole as a loan in September 2006. But Hale tore up the check and gave Naeole cash instead. Naeole then used $100 for personal expenses and gave $900 to her campaign. The Commission staff considered the money an unreported campaign donation from Hale, funneled through Naeole, and recommended a $350 fine. Hale said the money was intended as a campaign donation. But Naeole said it was a personal loan because she “was broke” and ready to refinance her home. The Commission determined that it was only another reporting violation, however, and reduced the amount of the fine to $100.
Walker said the violations occurred after acting on advice from Hale, who later made the allegations against the campaign. Walker also said Hale paid for the radio ad but never gave Walker the receipt.
Roehrig was pleased with the Commission’s decisions and even though it was operating in “uncharted waters,” his client got a fair shake.
Naeole said her intentions were never bad and that the violations were all honest mistakes.
Hale had brought similar charges against Naeole to the County Ethics Board on July 11, 2007, but Naeole was exonerated by the board. A day later Hale filed similar complaints with the Campaign Spending Commission.
Naeole was happy to get the matter behind her even though she walked out $300 lighter in the wallet. Her campaign organization, which is currently being reformed for this year's campaign, can pay the fine, said Barbara Wong, the Commission's executive director.
It was Hale who was fuming after the meeting was over. "Emily lied," and the hearing was “unfair” and “biased," she said.
The meeting went a lot longer than anyone thought it would after all the witnesses showed up who wanted to testify. I had to race to the airport -- although race wasn't the operable word on The Bus -- making my flight home by minutes.
I'll have a little more color and detail about the hearing tomorrow.
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Reader Comments (5)
In fact, your short version did not mention that Barbara Hale states she wrote "Friend of Naela" on the check stub in the presence of Emily - a misspelling of Emily's name when she already correctly spelled Emily's name "Naeole." You also did not mention that "Barbara" also incorrectly spelled "Freiends of Neael" on the check. Two documents, three different spellings of the last name in four locaations. Obviously, someone is helping Barbara Hale write on the documents which were used as "evidence" in the commission meeting. That someone didn't know how to spell Emily's last name at the time. Different pens were used. And Barbara Hale was at the center of that loan. The legislative aide to a State Representative, and she didn't advise Emily on how to submit papers? What do you expect from someone who is involved in writing checks that have been altered for use as evidence? Too much information to report in the short version?
You did not mention the detail that Donna Walker put into documenting almost all of the campaign transactions. Even the amounts that did not require documentation. The fines were for late filing, not irregularities in reporting.
So to come off and ding Emily for late filings when Barbara Hale was the genesis of the subterfuge which resulted in Donna having to redo the books, trying to figure out where the mistakes were being committed, all the while there being a rat in the nest - for you not to report that when it was so obvious to the commissioners.
You never reported any of that. And you would want me to believe your report was fair, or if you became a representative you would look at issues fairly? You would affect all of us, including us in Hilo. I don't find that a comforting thought based on your summary of what happened yesterday, and your failure to report any of what I have stated above. Which is why I believe you wrote your "report" in such a manner because you support the candidacy of someone other than Emily as Puna's representative for County Council.
"Just about everybody, including several commissioners, decided the check looks "funny" yet they still didn't care whether it was a personal loan or a campaign contribution. Their only complaint was that in either case Hale should have been recorded as the source of the money, not Naeole -- that's the violation. They lowered the fine from $350 to $100 because there was no indication Naeole was trying to "rig the game," as one commissioner put it.
Commission Director BARBARA WONG said Lee Loy's interest in the check, although irrelevant to the commission, went to the matter of credibility and she SIDED WITH NAEOLE in concluding that THE CHECK WAS A PERSONAL LOAN, NOT A CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION AS HALE CONTENDS.
Brian, in your post above you misstated that the "check" was a campaign contribution. The Commission did not agree with your opinion, or Barbara Hale's claim.
So I think all that says it pretty clearly. Most people, including several commissioners, concluded the same about Hale, whose handiwork was involved in each of the complaints Naeole was nailed for. Hale was unprepared, unfocused, had little good evidence and diminished credibility
"Just about everybody, including several commissioners, decided the check looks "funny" yet they still didn't care whether it was a personal loan or a campaign contribution. Their only complaint was that in either case Hale should have been recorded as the source of the money, not Naeole -- that's the violation. They lowered the fine from $350 to $100 because there was no indication Naeole was trying to "rig the game," as one commissioner put it.
Commission Director BARBARA WONG said Lee Loy's interest in the check, although irrelevant to the commission, went to the matter of credibility and she SIDED WITH NAEOLE in concluding that THE CHECK WAS A PERSONAL LOAN, NOT A CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION AS HALE CONTENDS.
[Brian, in your post above you misstated that the "check" was a campaign contribution. The Commission did not agree with your opinion, or Barbara Hale's claim.]
Hunter continued:
"So I think all that says it pretty clearly. Most people, including several commissioners, concluded the same about HALE, WHOSE HANDIWORK WAS INVOLVED IN EACH OF THE COMPLAINTS NAEOLE WAS NAILED FOR. Hale was unprepared, unfocused, had little good evidence and diminished credibility
Brian, in your "report" you said Emily let [others] take the blame. That is not what the Commission said.
Yes, you do owe Emily an apology.