Last November, in an effort to obtain hard information about the sponsorship of the puwalu by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, Environment Hawai`i submitted a formal Freedom of Information Act request to the council.
The request did not ask the council for answers to questions. Instead, it sought to obtain copies of documents that would disclose the council’s relationship with parties associated with the puwalu, including Leimana DaMate, and the council’s direct payouts to people attending the meetings and to the hotels and the Hawai`i Convention Center, where some of the puwalu were held.
The council turned the information request over to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Pacific Islands Regional Office. Once there, it landed on the desk of the staff member assigned to handle FOIA requests, Steve Thumm. NMFS, however, did not have any information responsive to our request, so Thumm had to ask the council for the information.
What Thumm received, and which has been forwarded to us, has been of little help so far. More than 300 of the 319 pages provided to date consist of copies of information contained in binders given to people attending four of the five puwalu, including where to eat in Waikiki, a floor plan of the Hawai`i Convention Center, and many lined blank pages headed “Notes.”
In addition, there are council-created spreadsheets purporting to show the council’s expenses associated with the puwalu. One set of spreadsheets shows how much was paid to people attending three of the puwalu. (According to the council, 90 people received payments ranging from $250 to $795. There is no way to confirm this without examining receipts or other payment records, which is what we requested. According to at least one person who attended more than one puwalu, the council information does not match what she received.) Total payouts to individuals came to $44,135, per the council information.
A second spreadsheet purports to summarize the council’s contributions to five separate puwalu. That spreadsheet indicates that the council spent $340,847, far eclipsing the next-largest puwalu underwriter, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ($60,000). Again, without being able to verify the claims through examination of receipts, contracts, invoices, and other records, there is no way to confirm the council’s claimed expenses.
Environment Hawai`i asked for records relating to any contract between Leimana DaMate and the council. So far, none has been provided.
— Patricia Tummons
Volume 18, Number 9 March 2008
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