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Ian Lind: Illegal Lobbying Machine Was Hidden in Plain Sight ­ Civil Beat News
CO LUM N
Ian Lind: Illegal Lobbying
Machine Was Hidden in Plain
Sight
It’s been 30 years since a scandal broke over the judiciary’s aggressive system
of doling out favors to well-connected people.
JULY 15, 2015 · By Ian Lind 
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It seems appropriate to note, for the record, that it was 30 years ago this month — July
1985 — when critical questions were first raised publicly about an extraordinary political
machine that had been organized and powered by key officials of the state court
system, utilizing diverse personnel and resources of the judiciary in extensive but
improper lobbying and campaign activities.
I posed those first questions in a July 3, 1985, report written while I was serving as
executive director of the local office of the public interest lobbying group Common
Cause. The brief report was the result of an investigation over several months
prompted by questions our office had received during the 1985 legislative session. The
report described, in broad brush, a routine agency lobbying effort in support of its
budget requests that had developed into something completely different and more
dangerous.
The externals of the court’s lobbying had been known and praised as modern, efficient
and effective. And the courts benefited from the results, which could be seen in
expanding budgets, new buildings, additional personnel and the latest equipment
statewide. But what perhaps wasn’t so apparent was how the machine was fueled and
held together.
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In 1985, Ian Lind was executive director of Common Cause/Hawaii when he produced a report
alleging corruption and violations of the state’s ethics laws by a lobbying group associated with
the state judiciary.
As I wrote at that time: “While state law does not prohibit public workers from
participating in politics, the creation of an agency-based political machine goes far
beyond the simple participation of individual government employees in political affairs.
It is reasonable, then, to ask whether it is proper for any state agency to move from
routine lobbying into wholesale political action?”
The political group — which was only nominally independent of the courts — was
initially known as Hui o’Kokua and, later, Employees for Good Government Service, or
EGGS.
At its center was the late Tom “Fat Boy” Okuda, who came up through the ranks until he
was the judiciary’s deputy administrative director and, at the time, acting director.
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Like many lobbyists, the colorful Okuda often delivered gifts of food to legislative
offices while making his rounds at the Capitol.
Okuda turned this “local style” lobbying into an art and, in the process, established
himself as a major lobbyist, and the judiciary as a political force to be reckoned. This
was accomplished by turning court clerks, secretaries, probation officers, deputy
sheriffs and others into campaign volunteers, and court kitchens into production lines
where salad, stew and sushi for many candidate’s campaign fundraisers were prepared.
Okuda eventually oversaw an extensive underground food operation, with plate
lunches delivered on a daily basis to members and staff of key legislative committees
during the crunch times of the session when work extends late into the evening.
Recruiting the ‘Volunteers’
A former Senate Judiciary staff member told me at the time that while the budget
conference committee was meeting, someone would call the committee office every
afternoon to get a head count of those working late and, a bit later, the food would
appear.
“There was lots of food,” this person said, “and lots of leftovers.”
Some meals appeared to have been donated by plate lunch restaurants, while others —
stew or chicken, rice, and salad — were reportedly cooked in court offices.
The “volunteers” who prepared these meals were recruited through sign-up sheets
circulated by supervisors in various court offices. Several court workers told me they
had been told in no uncertain terms that those who “volunteered” to help would be
rewarded, while those who failed to participate would find themselves in dead-end
jobs, or worse.
“I volunteered, but I resented it,” one court employee told me. Her sentiment was
echoed by many others.
“There have been reports of peer pressure, implied threats of lack of advancement in
employment, and subtle suggestions of being reassigned to unpleasant tasks at work
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for lack of participation,” a subsequent investigation found. “Conversely, there have
been reports of promotions of some EGGS’ activists to positions of power within the
Judiciary in return for involvement in political activities.”
Several court workers told me
they had been told in no
uncertain terms that those
who “volunteered” to help
would be rewarded, while
those who failed to participate
would find themselves in
dead-end jobs, or worse.
And the same food production lines
were made available for campaign
fundraisers, where court personnel
would — on request — provide
food, tend bar and handle all the
general arrangements for campaign
events of favored candidates of
both parties.
By mid-1985, EGGS had prepared
food for the campaign fundraisers
of at least 17 lawmakers, according to my count at the time.
One senator told me that when he had first been elected, Okuda came by to talk and to
deliver the message, “if you ever need help, just give me a call.”
And there were many ways Okuda could offer to help. He could arrange groups of
court employees to campaign, doing everything from sign waving and going door to
door for candidates to reviewing voter lists and sending out personalized “friend-tofriend” postcards pitching the candidate of the day.
Okuda at some point along the way gave himself the title of “High Sheriff” and took
administrative control of the Sheriff’s Office.
He then used his authority to mobilize sheriff’s deputies in his political machine.
A nod here to then-Rep. Fred Hemmings, who began lobbing his own pointed
allegations of misconduct in the Sheriff’s Office. We were at opposite ends of the
political spectrum, but we both independently found ourselves very publicly at odds
with the judiciary’s political shenanigans.
A subsequent investigation by a “blue ribbon” panel appointed by then-Chief Justice
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Herman Lum found many of Hemming’s critiques to be on point, and also found deputy
sheriffs had been assigned to drive legislators to various functions, provide massages
to legislators, and to provide parking and other services at functions “connected with
raising money for EGGS …”
The various judiciary offices were also expected to turn out volunteers to run food
booths at the state farm fair and at Honolulu Stadium, with proceeds going to fund the
judiciary’s political activities. Court workers were also asked to buy tickets for raffles
and other internal fundraisers for EGGS, apparently in violation of basic ethical
standards.
Some of these things you just couldn’t make up.
Wearing his unauthorized title of “High Sheriff,” or “Chief Sheriff,” Okuda “distributed
Deputy Sheriff’s badges to numerous legislators, business persons, close friends and
others whose connections to the Sheriff’s Office are either tenuous or nonexistent,” the
blue ribbon panel’s investigation found.
Key legislators, including chairs of committees that handled the judiciary budget, were
given badges that allowed them free parking at the airport and other state properties,
as well as the right to carry firearms. Okuda argued that distributing badges to
legislators made them more aware of issues impacting the Sheriff’s Office, a view
soundly rejected by subsequent investigations. Whether it accomplished that isn’t clear,
but it did create deep and long lasting personal loyalty that led many legislators to
stand by Okuda throughout the evolving scandal and beyond.
Disappearing Acts
And there was another bit of magic Okuda could produce for the favored few. He could
make traffic citations disappear.
Legislators, business people, influential insiders and their family and friends were
directed to Okuda when they were ticketed and wanted to avoid going to court or
paying fines. It was widely believed that businesses that contributed food or supplies
for the judiciary’s lobbying and campaign activities were able to have traffic citations
given to their own employees or customers dismissed with Okuda’s assistance.
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At the Legislature, it was more routinized. At one time, legislators’ tickets were simply
delivered to the House Clerk, who in turn sent them to Okuda for dismissal.
The blue ribbon panel later reported: “Legislators have had their tickets ‘dismissed’
when legislative immunity does not apply. Tickets have been dismissed or discounted
for many other people who have no legitimate reason for requesting an administrative
dismissal.”
Okuda was ultimately convicted of 13 misdemeanor counts for fixing tickets, including a
total of 3,400 from 1982 to 1986. He died in 2001 at age 73.
While the range of improper, unethical, and illegal activity alleged in the Common
Cause report, and later confirmed by independent investigations, was breathtaking, this
was no ordinary conspiracy hidden in the shadows or behind closed doors along the
corridors of power.
The heroes of this whole affair
were the regular workers who
came forward and told their
stories, despite the same kinds
of threats and intimidation
that kept elected officials on
the sidelines.
This was, instead, an open and
widely known conspiracy, directed
by the judiciary’s deputy director
and stretching over at least a
decade, something that hundreds of
judiciary employees must have
known or participated in, while
others, including legislators and
other elected officials and
candidates, benefited from, while
the news media watched but failed to see. In late October 1985, nearly four months after the scandal broke into the open, I noted
the overwhelming silence in the political community. With the exception of Hemmings,
most elected officials of both parties had avoided addressing the allegations.
“These are powerful people in a powerful agency with powerful friends,” I said at the
time.
But two things did happen. First, the judiciary instituted its own internal reforms, despite
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the lack of support from elected officials. For this the courts should be given public
credit, since at the time, and for years to follow, they paid a political price.
There was a backlash from legislators loyal to Okuda, who punished the judiciary with
results that have lasted for decades, refusing to fund judicial raises and reversing the
favor that prior court budgets had enjoyed.
As a result, the 2007 State Commission on Salaries reported that Hawaii judges were
the lowest paid in the country, ranking No. 51 among the 50 states and District of
Columbia. Worse, even after their recommended salary increases, Hawaii’s judges still
remained at the very bottom of the salary heap.
That turns out to have been the lingering legacy of Fat Boy Okuda, who said everything
that he did had been for the good of the judiciary.
The news media, especially Honolulu’s two competing newspapers at the time, did a
tremendous job covering the scandal and moving the story forward. They threw lots of
reporting power into the different threads of the story, which ultimately proved very
important.
And, finally, the heroes of this whole affair were the regular workers who came forward
and told their stories, despite the same kinds of threats and intimidation that kept
elected officials on the sidelines. While they didn’t want their names made public
because of the threats of retaliation, they shared details such as sign-up sheets
distributed by court supervisors, that investigators could follow up on.
We were the scribes who compiled and shared their stories. They were the
whistleblowers who took the personal risks, and never were in a position to be publicly
thanked. I wish they could have been given the credit that was certainly due.
Note: You can read more about this scandal in newspaper clippings about Common
Cause during 1985 and 1986, available online here.
Follow Civil Beat on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for Civil
Beat’s free daily newsletter.
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About the Author
COLUMNIST
Ian Lind

Ian Lind is an award-winning investigative reporter and columnist who has been
blogging daily for 15 years. He has also worked as a newsletter publisher, public
interest advocate and lobbyist for Common Cause in Hawaii, peace educator, and
legislative staffer. Lind is a lifelong resident of the islands. Read his blog here.
Use the RSS feed to subscribe to Ian Lind's posts today
7 Comments
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Frank De Giacomo
Deputy Sheriffs provided "massages" to Legislators? Sounds like law enforcement was in the
human trafficking business (again). That would certainly bolster the inference of Kathryn Xian's
tweet, and my hunch, that the reason for the sex trafficking bill being vetoed is to protect law
enforcement from prosecution under the new law.
Like · Reply · 2 · Jul 15, 2015 9:04am
Arvid Youngquist
Common Cause and other non­partisan groups like AARP and the League of Women Voters
or KANU Hawaii makes for good training ground for civic minded individuals and activism.
Mahalo to Ian Lind and all of the good folks now and former Common Cause cadre of
volunteers.
Like · Reply · 5 · Jul 15, 2015 9:04am
Michael Krijnen · Architectural Lecturer Faculty of the Built Environment at Uganda Martyrs
University
Thank you Ian for the lonely job of reporting on the sleazy underbelly of government and being
a force for a healthy society.
Like · Reply · 4 · Jul 15, 2015 10:35am
Stephen W. Lane · Owner/ President at Steve Lane Associates
Every once in a while, I sometimes think this feels more like Mississippi in the 1960's than
Hawaii.
Like · Reply · 1 · Jul 15, 2015 11:24am
Lanric Hyland · State University of New York, Albany
WOW! Good reminder and we have a similar ethics problem on the Big Island.
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Like · Reply · 2 · Jul 15, 2015 2:08pm
Bob Brennan · Photo at Kodak moment
in the eighties, i was a naive messenger for a car salesman. he had a sheriff's badge and was
proud of it. showed it to me too! i remember driving to the district court, parking outside the
bethel office (illegally of course). delivered a fruitbasket, an envelope (don't know what was
inside, probably $) and a wad of tickets (both parking and moving violations) to the
administrator. i went back to the office, gave the sheriff (a car salesman, my boss) the tickets.
he was very happy, happy and happy! he sold a lot of cars due to his relationship to "fat boy".
the good ole days. yes, it was wasn't perfect neither is today's business, just done 'smarter'.
Like · Reply · 1 · Jul 15, 2015 3:26pm
Gary E. Weller · Owner/ President at Mana Ikaika Inc.
Ian Lind you are the best. Do you remember Okuda wanted machine guns, his own swat team,
and special weapons.
Like · Reply · Jul 18, 2015 2:42pm
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