A Big Island state roads superintendent who allegedly drew upon government workers and equipment after his personal pickup truck blew a tire has been fined $3,000 by the state Ethics Commission.
A Big Island state roads superintendent who allegedly drew upon government workers and equipment after his personal pickup truck blew a tire has been fined $3,000 by the state Ethics Commission.
Francis Kekaualua, the construction and maintenance superintendent for the entire island who works out of the Hilo baseyard, did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement agreement with the Ethics Commission.
“The Commission believed that Respondent Kekaualua likely violated the State Ethics Code’s fair treatment law as alleged in the Charge by using state vehicles, subordinate state personnel, and other state resources for his own personal purposes,” the commission said in its report (http://files.hawaii.gov/ethics/advice/ROC2016-4.pdf) filed Monday.
Kekaualua was in Kona on personal business on Aug. 2, a Sunday, when a tire blew out on his pickup, according to the Ethics Commission report. After being unable to find a business to repair the tire that day, he called on a subordinate, the acting unit supervisor at the DOT baseyard in North Kona.
The acting supervisor came to the baseyard, used his key to activate a dump truck, and Kekaualua drove the dump truck 86 miles to his home in Hilo. He left his personal truck at the baseyard.
The next day, Kekaualua directed an acting supervisor at the Hilo baseyard to instruct another employee, on state time, to return the dump truck and recover the personal pickup. He then had an employee, again on state time, change the tire on his pickup.
The driver, also a subordinate employee to Kekaualua, drove the lowboy trailer (a large semi-trailer pulled by a truck tractor) during state work time to transport the DOT dump truck from the Hilo baseyard to the North Kona baseyard, loaded Kekaualua’s truck on the lowboy trailer, and then drove the lowboy trailer with Kekaualua’s truck back to the Hilo baseyard.
DOT records showed that the DOT driver spent approximately four hours of his official work hours driving the lowboy trailer from the Hilo baseyard to the North Kona baseyard and back, and that the lowboy trailer was driven approximately 200 miles for the round trip, the Ethics Commission said in its report.
“Employees who are entrusted with state property and other state resources for the performance of their official duties must uphold the public’s trust by ensuring that state property and state resources are used for official purposes only,” the report continued.
“Respondent Kekaualua cooperated with the Commission during its investigation and was willing to accept responsibility for his actions; nevertheless, the Commission believed that Respondent Kekaualua’s actions demonstrated what appears to be a clear disregard of the State Ethics Code’s standards of conduct for state employees.”
It’s not known whether Kekaualua was also punished by his employer, the state Department of Transportation. Sterling Chow, assistant district engineer for the island, said he couldn’t comment on personnel matters.
DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara directed calls for comment to the Ethics Commission. Susan Yoza, interim executive director for the Ethics Commission, referred back to the details of the report.
“HDOT is unable to comment beyond what is stated in the Resolution of Charge,” Sakahara said in an emailed response to a telephone message.
Kekaualua couldn’t be reached. He wasn’t at work Thursday and does not have a listed telephone number.