THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            39
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
  REQUESTING AUDITS OF HOUSING PROGRAMS OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF
    HONOLULU AND THE STATE.


 1        WHEREAS, in 1991, the Ewa Villages Revitalization Program
 2   was started to provide affordable housing while preserving the
 3   historic nature of the Central Oahu Sugar Plantation Village;
 4   and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, indictments were filed alleging theft, money
 7   laundering and forgery against City and County of Honolulu
 8   (City) officials and local business persons involving the Ewa
 9   Villages Revitalization Program and the relocation of two
10   businesses which had moved to make way for the City's bus
11   facility on Middle Street; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, Norman Tam, scheduled for trial for the alleged
14   theft of $5,500,000 in City money in connection with the Ewa
15   Villages Revitalization Program died on New Year's Eve; and
16   
17        WHEREAS, the allegations of misuse of City funds with
18   respect to the Ewa Villages Revitalization Program involved
19   Norman Tam, who had been Honolulu's fair housing officer at the
20   time of the alleged theft, and a member of the Housing and
21   Community Development Corporation of Hawaii for seventeen
22   years; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, Norman Tam and then-City property management
25   branch chief Michael Kahapea were arrested in 1997 and accused
26   of helping divert money to contracts with moving companies that
27   either didn't exist or intentionally failed to perform the work
28   for which they were paid; and
29   
30        WHEREAS, the Deputy Prosecutor alleged that said Norman
31   Tam used his knowledge of City procedures to mislead other City
32   employees to believe that commercial tenants had been moved
33   from Ewa Villages whereas in fact the tenants remained at Ewa
34   Villages; and
35   
36        WHEREAS, Michael Kahapea and Norman Tam both claimed that
37   they were instructed by superiors to process false billing
38   statements; and 

 
Page 2                                                     
                                  S.C.R. NO.            39
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   
 2        WHEREAS, Michael Kahapea further claimed that his
 3   supervisors were only concerned with finishing the Ewa Villages
 4   Revitalization Project and took shortcuts to do so; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, a significant part of the problem can be
 7   attributed to the lack of oversight by Mayor Harris's
 8   Administration over City housing projects; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, it has been suggested that City records may have
11   been destroyed under Mayor Harris's administration; now,
12   therefore,
13   
14        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
15   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
16   Representatives concurring, that the Auditor conduct a
17   management audit of the City's housing program with a view
18   toward strengthening administrative oversight of project funds
19   to preclude future misuse of funds; and
20   
21        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor also conduct an
22   audit of the Housing and Community Development Corporation and
23   its predecessors to determine if any irregularities occurred
24   regarding state housing project funds or if any state funds
25   were allocated to the city for the housing projects where
26   misuse occurred; and
27   
28        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
29   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the
30   Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development
31   Corporation, and the Mayor and Council Chair of the City and
32   County of Honolulu.
33 
34 
35 
36                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________