Dennis Mitsunaga, president of Mitsunaga & Associates, has fired back at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for its handling of a front-page story last Sunday. That story was criticized here yesterday.
Mitsunaga, in a letter sent to the Star-Advertiser, disputes the connection between campaign contributions and non-bid contracts, referring to a 2003 amendment to the state’s procurement law (SB 1262), which he says removed department directors, who are politically appointed, from the review and selection process.
It was because of this amendment to the procurement law requiring an impartial evaluation and selection process that we were able to secure over $22 million in non-bid contracts from the Lingle administration, far more than we ever received from the Cayetano and Harris administration combined, although we made no (zero) contributions to Linda Lingle.
Mitsunaga’s letter also refers to work done in South Korea by company subsidiary MM International, LLC, one of three companies selected through a national competition “to do the design work to relocate and consolidate the U.S. bases there.”
A listing of some of those contracts can be found by searching the Federal Procurement Data System. It’s clear that Mitsunaga’s firm is a major player in the highly regulated area of federal contracting, including contracts awarded through a competitive process.
His underlying point, if I read the letter correctly, is that the company does just fine competing for contracts on the basis of its experience and performance, as the record clearly demonstrates. The political activities of its officers or employees are a separate matter.
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The real scandal is the Honolulu Star Advertiser. It’s just simply a depressingly awful newspaper. I feel like I am reading a high school newspaper when I read it, although most high school newspapers do not make the mistakes that the SA makes. The only people that I know on my block who subscribe to it are old people who read it as a habit. We will not be afflicted with its presence permanently.
There was one thing I observed in the Abercrombie camp during the election. He was surrounded by long-standing, incredibly loyal friends. I did not know our now-Governor, but I was impressed by the obvious love he garnered in others.
It also became pretty clear that Dennis Mitsunaga was certainly one of those friends, and was putting much, much more than money up to help his friend. It seems to me that Dennis showed up to this campaign like they were two soldiers, two brothers in a war together. Dennis gave everything he could to Neil, and in so many ways, he never left Neil’s side.
Without facts to back up their claims and insinuations, the report was unfair to Dennis, and especially to Marvin.
Ian, if Mitsunaga were tied to Mufi or Lingle, you’d be screaming bloody murder. When it is your buddy Neil at risk, you suddenly switch sides.
But, in this case, I can’t figure what we would be screaming about.
Nonsense.
Ian has had a long history as an investigative journalist and “clean government ” activist. He has often taken on Democrats.
If you think there is something wrong here with Wong’s appointment, you should lay out your concern carefully instead of adopting for yourself the attitude that “it all depends upon whose ox is being gored.”
I d o not know Wong and doubt I could pick out Mitsunaga in a crowded room. If either of them can be shown to have done something wrong, show me and I will denounce them. I certainly have not been very constrained with my criticisms of either Obama or Abercrombie, despite being a Democrat and having help both of them get elected.
But the Star-Advertiser article was dressed up like an “expose” and placed upon the front page , “above the fold” as if it were VERY IMPORTANT. But upon reading it, I could find nothing in it to cause me concern. Beyond my normal concern that our election system should not rely upon private financing.
You got something else from it? Please share.
After several days of digestion, I have found nothing warranting a story, let alone a presumed page one expose.
In my days (1971-2002), it would never have gotten by the first rung on the copy desk.
World’s achanging and I fear much for the worst.