Category Archives: Campaigns

Amemiya’s campaign fundraising shows broad support

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Here’s one thing that can be said about Keith Amemiya’s mayoral campaign. From almost Day 1, Amemiya has shown he has a large number of supporters willing and able to open their checkbooks in order to get him elected.

Amemiya’s campaign received more than $740,000 during the period July 1 – December 31, 2019, the most recent period for which contribution records are available.

Of the total, just $11,484.90 was received in amounts of $100 or less, making up about 15.5% of the total.

About half of the total ($368,000) came from 94 donors who each gave the maximum allowed by law ($4,000). These core donors are listed at the end of this post.

Interestingly, only six of the 94 donors who contributed the maximum made similar personal contributions to Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s last campaign in 2016.

Here is a link to the list of contributions to Amemiya’s campaign between July 1-December 31, 2019.

And here are the reported campaign expenditures made during the same period.

Amemiya’s total was nearly three times the amount raised by former Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa during the same period, and about six times the amount brought in by Kymberly Pine.
According to Campaign Spending Commission records, Amemiya’s campaign submitted required notices for five fundraisers so far this year, with three scheduled in June. Three of the planned five fundraisers were scheduled as Zoom events.

During the second half of 2019, Amemiya reported having eight fundraisers.

He made two loans of personal funds to help get the campaign off the ground. The first loan was for $100,000 on August 19, 2019, and the second, an additional $100,000, was dated December 30, 2019.

The candidate also reported another $11,826.44 of in-kind contributions for smaller out-of-pocket campaign expenses, such as office supplies, lei, postage, food for volunteers, campaign meetings, signs, etc.

This Thursday, July 9, is the deadline for the candidates to report how much money their campaigns raised and spent during the first six months 2020.

Here is a list of the 94 people who each gave $4,000 to the Amemiya for Mayor campaign during 2019.

Contributor Name Employer Occupation
Amemiya, Bonny T. aio Group CFO
Amemiya, Dwight Shell Pipeline Company LP Business Development Lead
Amemiya, Ronald Y. State of Hawaii, Attorney General Attorney
Arce, Jeff The MacNaughton Group Senior Advisor
Arce, Loan N/A Housewife
Bakhtiari, Kamelia Wood Middle School Teacher
Berger, Deborah K. Hawaii Community Foundation Chair
Cabrera, Pamela A. Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Director of Military Affairs
Chun, Ryan C. Elite Parking President
Clark, Frank Real Select International LLC Owner
Cunha, Lawrence W. Jr. WCIT Architect Architect
Cyrus, Shandon K. Pacific Coast Maritime Association Operator
Emerson, Keith K Y Island Flooring Company President
Fujiwara, Jan K. Business Technologies Consultant
Gladstone, Arthur Hawaii Pacific Health Vice President
Hamano, Wayne Y. Bank of Hawaii Vice Chair
Hee-Amemiya, Carolyn H M N/A Retired
Hehir, Kimberly Brutus Broth LLC President
Hehir, Sean Trinity Investments Managing Partner
Higashi, Scott H. N/A Retired
Hiyakumoto, Greg RM Towill Corporation Manager
Ho, Michelle K. N/A Retired
Imada, Darren H. D Suehiro Electric, Inc. Chief Estimator
Iopa, Rachelle M S B Self-Employed Physical Therapist
Iopa, Robert K. WCIT Architect Architect
Irish, Michael P. Waterhouse, Inc. Director
Iwamoto, Chad CTR Consultant
Jewitt, Charles A. Camp, Inc. President
Kadowaki, Ann E K Hawaii Carpenter Service, Inc. President
Kadowaki, Jay Robert J Kadowaki Inc. President
Kadowaki, Kay N/A Retired
Kalani, Jeff Yogi Kwong Engineers LLC CEO
Kane, Micah A. Hawaii Community Foundation CEO
Kanekuni, Daniel T. WCIT Architect Architect
Kim, Danny Tae-Kyung Koha Foods President
Kobayashi, Bert A. Kobayashi Group Senior Advisor
Kobayashi, Bert A. Jr. Blacksand Capital, LLC Managing Partner
Kobayashi, Susan A. N/A Retired
Kondo, Kevin M I Hawaii Family Dental Dentist
Kondo, Mary E. N/A Retired
Kosasa, M I N/A Housewife
Kosasa, Thomas Thomas Kosasa, M.D. Physician
Kurahashi, Keith RM Towill Corporation Planner
Kurisu, Robert K. WKF, Inc. President
Kurisu, Susan N/A Retired
Lam, Collins RM Towill Corporation Engineer
Lim, Richard Tradewind Capital Group, Inc. Finance
MacNaughton, Ian The MacNaughton Group CEO/Managing Partner
Maeva, Dean Malala Pono, Inc. Marketing Agent
Maeva, Makani HE Group Real Estate
Matsumoto, Colbert Island Insurance Co, Ltd. Executive
Mau, Tanya N/A Not Employed
McFarlane, Robert Dura Constructors, Inc. Chairman
McFarlane, Scott Dura Constructors, Inc. Executive
McManus, Jonathan M. Hotel Wailea Maui Founder
McMurtry, James Brody Sweet Green Fields CFO
Mills, Ruth Four Seasons Sales Manager
Murakami, Jake Self-Employed Self-Employed
Nishi, Steven M. Self-Employed MD
Nobriga, Robert Island Holdings, Inc. President
Pakkala, Alana Kobayashi Group Real Estate Developer
Pang, Dean E. Hawaii Endoscopy Centers Chief Technology Officer
Reeves, William H. Self-Employed Investments
Rhee, Mark Self-Employed Physician
Richard K Ing Trust
Sellers, Dustin Koa Capital Partners Founder
Sellers, Mary E. Bank of Hawaii Vice Chair
Shirai, Hironari HNL Development LLC Investment Manager
Shon, Erin M. Vantage Sales Owner
Short, Ashley Louise Bank of Hawaii Primary Relationship Officer
SPEC-State PAC
Suehiro, Daryl S. D Suehiro Electric, Inc. President
Suehiro, Jodi-Ann M. D Suehiro Electric, Inc. Secretary
Suehiro, Keith K. D Suehiro Electric, Inc. Vice President
Suehiro, Kevin Self-Employed Dentist
Suehiro, Marissa M. Aloha United Way Database Administrator
Suehiro, Stephanie A. D Suehiro Electric Inc. Director
Takitani, Anthony Self-Employed Attorney
Tanoue, David RM Towill Corporation Manager
Thompson, Afatia Tihati Productions President
Tilker, Charlene Hawaii Women Healthcare Physician
Tilker, Marc BEI Hawaii Executive
Tsutsui, Roy RM Towill Corporation Engineer
Uyeda, Gregg Self-Employed Dentist
Vara, Raymond P. Hawaii Pacific Health CEO
White, Kevin A. Solar Power, Inc. Project Manager
Wong, Adam C. ACW Ventures Owner
Wong, Chelsie Not Employed Not Employed
Yamaguchi, Denise Hawaii Food & Wine Festival CEO
Yamamoto, James RM Towill Corporation Engineer
Yamamoto, Mandy K. Self-Employed Consultant
Yamamoto, Patricia A. N/A Retired
Yamamoto, Russell RMY Construction, Inc. President
Yamamoto, Ryan M. Construction Management & Engineer LLC Consultant

Checking out the (many) candidates for Honolulu Mayor

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If I counted correctly, there are 15 candidates whose names will be on the ballot for the office of Honolulu Mayor in the upcoming primary election. Of the 15, there are five who I consider in the top tier based on their visibility and name recognition, prior experience, campaign organization, and access to enough campaign funding to run a competitive race.

Keith Amemiya, attorney and former appointed school board member.
Rick Blangiardi, former general manager at Hawaii News Now.
Colleen Hanabusa, former legislative, State Senate president and Member of Congress
Mufi Hannemann, former mayor and council member.
Kym Pine, Honolulu City Council member.

All have been running campaign ads, but I thought it would be worth walking through available information that might contribute to a better understanding each of the candidates.

Over the next few days, I’ll look at the following information on each of the candidates–the candidate’s required financial disclosure, campaign officers, top contributors (if available).

I’ll just proceed alphabetically, and will get to the rest of the field of candidates if I have time.

Keith Amemiya.

Financial disclosure

Spouse: Bonny T. Amemiya

Income
(Keith):
Island Holdings, Inc (Senior vp)
$200,000-$299,000

(Bonnie)
aio, LLC (Chief Financial Officer)
$100,000 to $149,000

(joint)
Rental unit at 801 South Street
$10,000 to $24,999

Creditors
Three joint loans from First Hawaiian Bank are reported.
Current balances $100,000-$149,000; $200,000-$299,000; and $400,000-$499,000

Amemiya reports having no ownership or interests valued at $5,000 or more, or equal to a 10% interest in businesses incorporated, regulated, or licensed to carry on business in Hawaii.

Real Property Owned.

Personal residence, owned jointly.
Valued $700,000-$799,000.
Acquired in 2013.

Rental Unit, owned jointly.
801 South Street
Value $500,000-$599,000
Acquired 2016.
[Real estate records show Amemiya bought unit 4511 when the workforce housing project first opened in July 2015 for $375,300.]

Fiduciary positions

Keith:
Board Chair, Atlas Insurance Agency, 2013-2019.
Compensation: $10,000-$24,999

Board member, Aloha Stadium Authority
2015-2022

President, Downtown Athletic Club
2012-present

Board member, Jump Start Breakfast Advisory Board
2019-present

Board member, Shane Victorino Voundation (Las Vegas)
2010-present

Bonny:
Board member, Hawaiian Host, Inc.
2017-present

Board member, Hoike Networks, Inc.
2017-present

Board member, Hawaii Tokai International College
2016-present

Board member, aio Foundation, 2020-present

Campaign Organization

Campaign Chair: Adam Wong
Campaign Treasur: Nathan Okubo
Deputy Treasurer 1: Bonny Amemiya
Deputy Treasurer 2: Traci Watanabe Li

Adam Wong is managing partner of ACW Ventures, an investment and real estate firm. The telephone number for Wong in Amemiya’s campaign organizational report is the office number for WCIT Architecture, where he was long listed as a company principal.

ACW Ventures was touted as one of the local companies supporting the NextEra takeover of Hawaiian Electric, and was listed as an officer of a firm providing consulting services to NextEra.

Nathan Okubo is an attorney with the firm of Cades Schutte. He has been the registered treasurer of several political campaigns in the past.

See:
Keith Amemiya’s candidate financial disclosure

Amemiya for Mayor campaign committee organizational report

Still to come: Campaign contributions and more

State moving to new public access data portal

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Back in October 2012, the State of Hawaii launched a new website, data.hawaii.gov, which was described at the time as “an important new tool that will help to transform government and increase public accessibility to public records.”

It was part of Governor Neil Abercrombie’s attempt to upgrade the state’s technology infrastructure in a way that would increase public access to government data by gathering it in a central online portal.

It was run by Socrata, which had also been selected for the federal government’s data.gov website offering access to datasets from federal agencies.

Now the state’s contract with Socrata is due to expire in August, and the officially launched a new data portal last month on a platform developed by a Socrata competitor, OpenGov. The new portal can be found at opendata.hawaii.gov.

At least one agency has run into an apparently unexpected technical glitch that has created a new problem.

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission processes thousands of public filings each year, including annual financial disclosure and gift disclosure forms filed by state employees and public officials, along with lobbyist registrations and disclosure of lobbyist expenditures. Although some of these financial disclosures are confidential, many others are meant to be publicly accessible for inspection.

Until recently, its lists of disclosures were available for viewing and downloading via the state’s data portal. This provided the public with the ability to ask and answer more complex or focused questions. Rather than simply being able to view the expenditures disclosed during a particular year by a particular organization’s lobbyists, it was simple to download the data and look at trends over a period of years. I used the data to rank organizations by the amounts they spend on lobbying, and update those lists over different time periods.

But when the latest deadline for lobbyist disclosures passed, I discovered the data is no longer available for downloads.

So I sent a query to the commission, and received a prompt reply from Executive Director Dan Gluck.

From what I understand, we used to have all our data in Socrata, which you could download, but we’ve been migrating everything over to Salesforce. Our new e-filing system uses Salesforce, so this way, people file their forms (in Salesforce) and then they’re available on-line without us having to tinker with them too much. We’ve also been migrating our old data into Salesforce so that everything’s in one place. The downside is that I don’t think that you can download the data on the public side like you could with Socrata….

The remaining Socrata datasets will be taken off-line in August, I think, so if you’re interested in that data, you may want to download that now.”

Gluck also said the commission staff can download the datasets into Excel or CSV files on request, so hopefully this will at least retain the same level of accessibility that has existed in recent years.

In any case, I immediately contacted the Campaign Spending Commission, and was relieved to find out campaign-related data will continue to be readily accessible going forward.

According to an email from Tony Baldomero, the commission’s associate executive director, “our datasets will still be available to you and the public for download. There’s no change to this in the horizon.”

“The Commission’s candidate and noncandidate committee datasets which you can access on data.hawaii.gov can already be found on opendata.hawaii.gov for you to access,” Baldomero said in an email. “We will continue to have our datasets on both open data sites until data.hawaii.gov is phased out by the State or until our separate contract with Socrata ends.”

See also:

“Browsing the State Ethic Commission’s online disclosure system,” iLind.net, July 3, 2019.

About the avalanche of campaign fundraising emails

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Okay. I get it. Election campaigns take money. And if we don’t want those special interess to buy every election, then we’ve got to dig down and help out the candidates we support.

But does that have to mean a daily barrage of endless solicitations that run the gamut from friendly and chatty to whiny to outright abusive?

Every morning this week started with a text message from Joe Biden’s presidential campaign that included a request for to chip in to the campaign’s coffers. Sometimes it’s asking for $49, or maybe just $6. It doesn’t seem to matter whether or not I’ve donated to the campaign recently. The asks are endless. Sometimes Joe is alone. Sometimes they invoke Elizabeth Warren or Barrack Obama.

Sometimes it’s “personal.” You seen this.
An email received at 6:41 a.m. this morning: “President Obama and I are personally asking.”
Yesterday not long after noon. “Hi there, Ian. It’s Elizabeth Warren. Can Joe and I call you soon?”
Friday, two emails, twelve minutes apart: Joe writes, “Why I’m asking even though I hate this.”
Thursday 7:53 a.m. email from Carole King. “Personally asking, Ian.”

When did the term “personal” lose all meaning?

But despite the faux “personal” touches and ridiculous frequency of these messages, I don’t find these offensive.

The ones that do get my goat are the political action committees that come on like aggressive bill collectors, trying to scare or guilt trip a contribution. There’s the one that repeatedly tells me that if I don’t personally contribute today, right now, candidate XYZ will have to shut down their campaign, or will plummet in the polls, or will have no chance come election day. I consider these to be abusive, using psychological techniques to make potential donors feel personal responsibility if they don’t give, and give again, repeatedly.

The worse offenders in this regard seem to fall in the “progressive” category. There’s something called “Progressive Takeover.” I don’t know who’s running this outfit, but they are about the worst offender when it comes to trying to squeeze money out of you.

This morning’s email from Progressivetakeover.com came in about 9:09 a.m.–“…donations dropped off a cliff… Hawaii Democrats don’t seem to care!”

Then there’s an outfit calling itself “stoprepublicans.org”. “Stop Republicans, an accountability project of Progressive Turnout Project….”

Progressive Turnout Project is about the worst in terms of guilt tripping as a fundraising strategy.

“We’re choking back tears, Ian,” they wrote this morning at 9:06 a.m.

“We have said news,” they wrote a day or so ago. And, in their view, it’s my fault because I didn’t write a check.

There they go, getting faux personal again.

Anyway, I can’t believe this approach is very effective. It turns me off.

And then there’s the sheer chaos in election fundraising. Right now, Democratic candidates and their supporters from all 50 states seem to be competing against each other, and the top of the ticket candidates, for small donations.

My inbox is filled every morning with a bewildering array of campaign solicitations, some for unfamiliar candidates from who-knows-where. Then there are the “offical” campaign Pacs, the DCCC and DSCC (backing Democratic candidates for the House and Senate, respectively). And behind them come the other political action committees which don’t tell us much about themselves except that they too have a desperate need to get into my wallet.

The result is that I typically get up early and quickly go through my email, deleting almost all of the fundraising messages. But don’t worry. The inbox will be filled again by noon, just in case I’ve forgotten that there’s an election campaign underway.