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| Glad you could join me! Here's your handy, dandy Birdwatcher's Guide: Part I is an exhibit of some of the world's most powerful birds of prey and some of the vultures that clean up their kill. ~ ~ ~ Part II gives you a tour of a few of the nests for these birds - some of which might even be found in your own back yard. ~ ~ ~ Part III shows you the prey! ~ ~ ~ So, whenever you're ready, just let your mouse be your guide from here on in (but watch out that it doesn't get eaten alive!) ~ ~ ~ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ARE THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS ABOUT TO RUMBLE AGAIN? According to its Vice President of Endowment, Kirk Belsby, Kamehameha Schools is considering selling its Hawaii lands under a new management plan. Will the beneficiaries - the children of Hawaii - sit still for this? To take a gander of what's going on, take the school bus over to see DIRTY MONEY, DIRTY POLITICS & BISHOP ESTATE. KARL ROVE AND "SCOOTER" LIBBY: BIG OIL HIDING BEHIND THE BLINDS? Now that the Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby conspiracies are finally coming into the national spotlight, will Big Oil be able to continue to hide George Bush's involvement in the almost-forgotten scandals of ENRON and HARKEN ENERGY/ALOHA PETROLEUM? HOW SECURE IS YOUR HOMELAND SECURITY? The FBI has accused an ex-Northrop engineer, Noshir Gowadia, of espionage for allegedly selling secrets of the B-2 Stealth Bomber to at least eight foreign countries. To get in on some of the secrets, fly to Hawaii to see THE SPY WHO CAME TO MAUI. WILL YOUR HURRICANE INSURANCE SOON BE GONE WITH THE WIND? With hurricane insurers facing billions in losses, could some be planning to head for higher ground? For a glimpse of what could portend a mass exodus, fly over to see the financial vultures at ZEPHYR INSURANCE COMPANY ! ETOYS: FRAUD AND COVERUP GAMES FOR GROWNUPS! An insider tells how Goldman Sachs and similar birds of a feather played games with the IPO and bankruptcy of eToys and won millions for themselves and their favored clients. To get a front-row seat at the game table, hustle over to see how the Big Boys are TINKERING WITH ETOYS! FLYING WITH THE BANKRUPTCY BUZZARDS! The former Hawaiian Airlines bankruptcy trustee, Joshua Gotbaum, is seeking a whopping $8 MILLION "success fee" - on top of his regular salary - for his work in piloting the airline through the bankruptcy courts. For outrageous GREED that you have to see to believe, hurry and book a flight on HAWAIIAN AIRLINES. NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL SHOOTS SOME MARSH BIRDS! NY Atty Gen Eliot Spitzer has brought down a bevy of financial buzzards with lawsuits against Marsh & McLennan, the nation's largest insurance broker, along with flocks from ACE, AIG, ALLIED, AON, CHUBB GROUP, GOLDMAN SACHS, PWC, PRUDENTIAL, ST. PAUL TRAVELERS, WILLIS GROUP and ZURICH. To join the buzzard hunt, wade into the swamps of THE MARSH BIRDS. (...and, for a Secret Marsh Bird Recipe, hop over to see: "COOKING THE INSURANCE BOOKS." ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirty Money, Dirty Politics and
Bishop Estate
Stealing the Legacy of a Hawaiian Princess
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
PART V - The Conspiracies Take Wing Again ...
* * *
Continuing about where we left off in Part IV ...
November 7, 2005
IMUA
Kamehameha Schools considers selling Hawaii lands under a new management plan.
~ ~ ~
Will the islands rumble?
~ ~ ~
By Scott Radway, Hawaii Business Magazine
Kirk Belsby, vice president for the Kamehameha Schools endowment, is not complaining when he explains what it takes for him to sell a piece of land, no matter how small.
"Any sale of a single square foot has to go through the trustees. I can rent the land, I can ground lease it all day long. But if I want to sell one square foot for one dollar that requires trustee approval," Belsby says....
"That is the seriousness with which we take our land stewardship," Belsby says.
Kamehameha Schools towers over the rest of Hawaii's wealthiest landowners, with more than 365,000 acres statewide. The assessed value this year for the land and buildings on it is $4.2 billion, an amount that some Ivy League colleges would envy. The next wealthiest land owner in Hawaii, the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, has $1 billion and just 2,100 acres.
When it comes to land in Hawaii, Kamehameha sits on the commanding heights.
For some critics of Kamehameha, that has long been the problem: The trust just sits there, holding up growth and development in Hawaii. At the same time, some constituents believe that posture is a strength. For some supporters, even talking about selling former royal land is a sacrilege. To them, you can't barter and trade Hawaiian heritage.
That's why it's monumental that after Belsby explains how important land stewardship is, he explains how the Kamehameha land value system has been retooled. A new approach has developed quietly and internally over the past two years, one that includes selling land if appropriate, after careful consideration.
However, Belsby quickly adds, "I do not believe there will come a day when Kamehameha will be a wholesale seller of lands."
Belsby says a small amount of land will be sold, if any, and it is likely Kamehameha will also buy replacement parcels as it moves to more actively develop land in partnerships. Belsby adds that the real difference in Kamehameha's approach is that it is systematic, rigorous and disciplined in its land evaluations. About a year and a half ago, the Kamehameha trustees decided it was time for a strategic analysis of Kamehameha's land portfolio, he says.
However, for the state's largest landholder just to talk about the possibility of selling Hawaii land – particularly with this year's 9th Circuit Court blows to Native Hawaiians – is a seismic pronouncement, with positive and negative reverberations likely to ripple through the business and Native Hawaiian communities....
A RULE OF FIVE
Dee Jay Mailer, chief executive officer of Kamehameha Schools, says it is sometimes hard for Mainland groups to understand how alii trusts (trusts that own land, which formerly belonged to Hawaiian royalty or alii.) view their land. "Land has a special meaning to native people. Land is not just a commodity to exchange. To native people, land is part of the family. Land is taken care of like family.
"In the Western approach, land is owned with deeds and is traded," Mailer continues. "Alii trusts live in both worlds."
The land is heritage. It is also how alii trusts such as Kamehameha and others fund their programs, their primary focus. Balancing financial needs with land legacy is not an easy task. Mailer says the crux of Kamehameha's new approach is assessing its land with a set of five values, one of which is economics. The other four incorporate the value of the land to Hawaiians. The trust will review the land's cultural, community, educational and environmental value.
"There may be some land that is ripe for development but has more cultural value. So we may choose not to develop it or to develop it in a culturally appropriate way. At the same time, we may sell a piece of land that is not so culturally relevant, but has high economic value," says Mailer.
Mailer adds that not all initiatives will involve traditional commercial buildings. Such things as restoring native habitat and developing living laboratories for students are also paramount, she says. There are also developments such as life sciences facilities in Kakaako that piggyback on the medical school, development largely aimed at enriching professional opportunities in Hawaii. The idea is to get the most "across Kamahameha's five values" from every piece of land....
Mike Hamasu, director of consulting research at Colliers Monroe Friedlander, says the changes will take time to manifest. "Kamehameha is a large entity and it doesn't turn on a dime. They are incorporating a lot of strategies to provide direction for their portfolio. It's a big shift, and change is difficult."
Those watching the Kamehameha developments include other alii trusts that find themselves in the difficult position of balancing land preservation with funding their services.
The outcome "is of great interest to us as well," says Mark Hastert, president and chief executive office of the Queen Emma Foundation, which is the land-management division of the No. 5 wealthiest landowner and alii trust, Queen's Health Systems, with $990 million and 12,600 acres.
"We have had some discussion with them, just to understand what they are going through and doing. We are watching it closely, looking at how they transition and how they get through this, to see if there are ways we possibly can restructure, depending on how it goes."...
DOLLARS AND SOPHISTICATION
When the Japanese burst onto the scene in the late 1980s, there were stories about investors circling in light aircraft, picking properties to buy and paying more than the asking price.
The real estate market was hot then, too, and we all know how that worked out.
But Paul Brewbaker, chief economist with Bank of Hawaii, says this time around the investor profile is entirely different. During the Japan influx, many of the investors putting money into hotels or other kinds of real estate had made their millions in other industries. The Japanese, too, bought properties for the status.
"No one is buying trophy properties today," Brewbaker. "These investors are more sophisticated. They study the investment and everything has to pencil out."
The investors that are coming in are making their money off better management of properties. Construction costs are too high currently to spawn much new commercial or retail development. The investors are investing in better hotels or retail strips....
HERITAGE AND THE GLOBAL MARKET
Robert Ozaki, president and chief operating officer of Queen Liliuokalani Trust (QLT), is well aware of the risks of having all your eggs in one real estate basket. Roughly 90 percent of the alii trust's income is derived from Hawaii real estate and 70 percent comes from properties in Waikiki.
In a global marketplace, the trend is toward diversification, both in asset type and, when it comes to real estate investment, geographic diversification. Ozaki notes that Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the potential peril of having your investments concentrated in one waterfront area.
The need to diversify, which is underpinned by the need to fund trust programs for perpetuity, runs smack into the need to preserve heritage lands. Ozaki says the trust, which ranks No. 3 on the list, with $1 billion in land assets, does not plan to sell off large chunks of land, even in this current white-hot market: " We get a lot of phone calls to sell land. But we will always be a Hawaii real estate trust. That is our genealogy."
Says Thomas Kaulukukui, chairman of QLT's board of trustees, "We are aware of the importance of holding land, but we are equally aware of our responsibility to diversify the holdings, to develop them and maybe in some appropriate cases to liquidate them in favor of reinvesting the proceeds or exchanging land for other land that supports our mission."
However, Kaulukukui does acknowledge that selling might not be received well among all his constituents.
In interviews with the alii trusts, one self-evident truth seemed clear to all: As changes in the global market bring sophisticated investors to Hawaii, alii trusts must respond to the advent of the global market with sophistication.
Kaulukukui says the keyword for QLT going forward is flexibility. The plan is to generate more revenue from the properties and then reinvest that money elsewhere. QLT last year took a major step in that direction, partnering with San Francisco-based AMB Property Corp. (NYSE: AMB) to invest in Gateway City real estate on the Mainland.
As for the Queen Emma Foundation, Hastert says the future is also unlikely to involve any large land sales, though he, too, confirms some sales could happen where appropriate. From Queen Emma's standpoint, the majority of its land will give a higher yield from leasing it to developers. Primarily residential properties are expected to be sold, Hastert says, to avoid future leasehold conversion battles.
Kamehameha's Belsby says he understands with the recent disappearance of other old kamaaina trusts, such as the Damon Estate, and the slow reduction of the Campbell Estate, not to mention the Big Five, some fear that the large Hawaiian entities are dissolving. Kamehameha is here to stay, he says, but to operate in the global village of the 21st century, reevaluation and change are realities.
"Keep in mind, our mission is still to improve the health and well-being of the Native Hawaiian community through education. The endowment pays for education," Belsby says. "We are looking for a balanced approach in our portfolio so all five values can be expressed. So we have taken a more rigorous and disciplined approach to reviewing our lands.
"We are certainly embarking upon a new direction."
www.hawaiibusiness.com/1105/1105_top20_imua.aspx
Catbird Note: For an idea of what’s really, really, truly going on here, GO TO > > > How To Pluck A Non-Profit
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September 29, 2005
Congressman Backing Akaka Bill Has
Financial Ties to Gov. Lingle
By Malia Zimmerman, Hawaii Reporter
A Hawaii Reporter review of state campaign spending records reveals an Oklahoma congressman lobbying for the Akaka Bill in the U.S. House on Gov. Linda Lingle’s behalf is a partner in a political consulting firm that was paid more than $150,000 by Lingle during her past two campaigns for governor.
Cole Hargrave Snograss & Associates, whose president and partner is Republican Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma, received $109,918 for Lingle’s campaign in 1998, and $41, 900 in 2002 for political consulting services.
In 2005, Cole lobbied his fellow House members to support the Akaka Bill, which has not been scheduled for a vote in the U.S. House. This summer, he added his name as a co-signer of the bill, which would grant native Hawaiians recognition similar to that afforded to native American Indians and Native Alaskans. In July, Cole authored a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom Delay, expressing his support for the bill and encouraging his colleagues to “allow the time consideration of this important, historic, and long-overdue piece of legislation.”
When asked if he disclosed his company’s financial relationship with Lingle with his fellow representatives he lobbied on her bahalf, Cole told Hawaii Reporter: “I always introduce Gov. Lingle as my former client; I don’t believe this is a surprise to any of my colleagues.”
Lingle had not disclosed her financial tie to Cole when she announced she’d gained his support for the bill and made available to the media his letter to the House Republican leadership.
When asked by Hawaii Reporter about the financial connection, Lingle’s administration said Cole’s involvement in the campaign was publicly disclosed in the campaign spending report.
A fifth generation Oklahoman, and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, Cole told Hawaii Reporter that his motives were pure and he’d only asked that “this legislation receive an up or down vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.”...
Lingle has aggressively lobbied congress for the passage of the Akaka Bill over the last two years, pledging to the people of Hawaii that she’d use her connections with President George W. Bush and the majority party in Congress to get passed the Democrat-authored bill named for Sen. Daniel Akaka.
A cloture vote originally scheduled for Sept. 6, 2005, in the Senate was canceled after Senate leadership said its members needed to focus on bringing relief to residents in the South affected by Hurricane Katrina, and on filling two U.S. Supreme Court vacancies....
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August 31, 2005
Hawaii Taxpayers May Can Hawaiian Affairs
By Ron Station, Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Hawaii taxpayers may sue to stop state funding of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for allegedly discriminating against non-Hawaiians.
The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned a lower court ruling and affirmed the standing of a multi-ethic group of taxpayers to challenge the Hawaiians-only programs.
It was the second time this month that the court has ruled against Hawaiian programs. On August 2, a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the exclusive Kamehameha Schools’ policy of giving preference to Native Hawaiians violates federal anti-discrimination laws.
The lawsuit in the latest opinion argues that OHA’s programs should not receive state funding on the grounds that they are discriminatory. OHA has doled out hundreds of grants to support health, education, cultural and business programs for Native Hawaiians.
The suit, filed in March 2002, also contended that revenue from ceded lands - crown lands under the Hawaiian monarchy that became public lands and eventually were ceded to the state under statehood in 1959 - should benefit Hawaii’s entire population, not just Native Hawaiians.
But the court affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of that part of the case.
Former OHA attorney Sherry Broder had argued that congressional acts, such as the Native Hawaiian Education Act, have already established Hawaiians as a political entity.
The appeals court ruled that the plaintiffs have standing to pursue their claim that funding OHA programs with state tax revenues violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway had dismissed the case last year, noting at the time that Congress was considering a bill sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, that would grant federal recognition to native Hawaiians similar to the recognition afforded to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The 9th Circuit panel heard arguments in Hawaii but issued Wednesday’s opinion in San Francisco.
“The ruling is narrower than we think it should be, but it gives us the ability to challenge the constitutionality of OHA,” said H. William Burgess, attorney for the plaintiffs.
Burgess said he is confident his clients will prevail when the case is heard again in U.S. District Court in Hawaii.
OHA board chairwoman Haunani Apoliona called Wednesday’s ruling “another serious blow to the Hawaiian Community, and demonstrates that the courts and their doctrines do not favor Hawaii’s native people.”
The Akaka bill is scheduled for a cloture vote in the U.S. Senate next Tuesday; if it wins at least 60 votes, that would force debate and a vote on the bill.
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August 3, 2005
Kamehameha Will Fight Ruling
Its admission policy is “unlawful race discrimination,”
a federal court rules
The plaintiffs’ attorneys say they will ensure
the school obeys the order
By Debra Barayuga, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Kamehameha Schools trustees say they will strenuously appeal a federal court ruling that overturns the schools’ century-old admission policy giving preference to native Hawaiian children.
In a decision that strengthened the resolve of school officials and outraged members of the Hawaiian community, two out of three justices on a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled yesterday that the schools’ admission policy constitutes “unlawful race discrimination.” The judges said the private school’s policy violates federal civil rights law even though Kamehameha receives no federal funding....
The John Doe v. Kamehameha Schools lawsuit arose when an anonymous non-Hawaiian student applied to the school twice and was denied after he told the school that none of his grandparents had Hawaiian blood.
Constitutional law expert Eric Grant, of Sacramento, Calif. and local attorney John Goemans, who successfully challenged the Hawaiian-only voting for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in the landmark Rice v. Cayetano case, filed suit on behalf of the student in June 2003 seeking to overturn the admission policy on the basis that it violated the boy’s federal civil rights.
Yesterday, Grant said he and his client are overjoyed by the ruling and expect that he will be admitted as a senior when the school year begins Aug. 18.
“If we need to call the court’s assistance, we will,” he said.
School officials said they would fight any court order to admit the boy.
The court essentially ruled that race and ancestry can no longer be the cornerstone of the school’s admission policy, Grant said. It means that Kamehameha will have to fundamentally change its admission policy to be more inclusive rather than exclusive, he added.
Founded in 1884 by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the Kamehameha Schools is a $6 billion, nonprofit charitable trust that this year will educate about 5,000 native Hawaiian children.
The judges, in their majority opinion, recognized that a non-race-based policy is consistent with the princess’ vision of helping disadvantaged students in the state of Hawaii and nothing in the will mandates the current exclusionary policy based on race and ancestry, Grant said.
Calling the court’s decision wrong, Kamehameha Schools Board Chairwoman Diane Plotts, flanked by the other four trustees, reiterated their resolve to honor the princess’ will and continue providing education to thousands of children of Hawaiian ancestry through its preference policy.
www.starbulletin.com/2005/08/03/news/story1.html
< < < FLASHBACK < < <
March 12, 2000
Bishop Estate’s first trustees
played key role in overthrow
By Bob Dye, The Honolulu Advertiser
They were American annexationists, these first five trustees of the estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
Within three years of their appointment, they helped strip King Kalakaua of his power. When, upon his death in 1891, Pauahi’s hanai sister Lili`uokalani succeeded to the throne, they joined with others to depose her, establish a provisional government and a so-called republic.
The annexationists realized their ultimate political goal four years later when the Hawaiian Islands became a U.S. territory. Their political agenda had a profound effect of Bishop Estate and the Kamehameha Schools....
Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop was the last of the Kamehameha dynastic line. Upon Pauahi’s death, in the 11th year of Kalakaua’s reign, the royal lands of the Kamehamehas – one-ninth of all land in Hawaii – passed to the control of five esteemed haoles – the trustees. None had a drop of Hawaiian blood.
Those lands became a base of wealth for two great estates – those of Bishop and Damon....
Planning an overthrow
Calling King Kalakaua “a bully and a coward,” [Bishop Estate Trustee Rev. Charles McEwen] Hyde advocated his overthrow. He wrote to the Rev. Judson Smith, head of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, on Nov. 20, 1886: “I have learned facts about the King’s measures and objects, which convince me that with the cunning of the savage and the tirelessness of revengeful animosity, he is seeking the overthrow of Christian institutions and the utter demoralization of society. His aim is to restore heathenism with its absolute power of the chief and licentious orgies of wasteful indulgence ... we should have a revolution.”.
A Jan. 13, 1887, correspondence from Hyde to Smith states: “By the Constitution, he is not responsible to anybody for anything he chooses to do. He can steal, murder, defraud. He cannot be called to account. But if twelve of the leading men of this community should agree upon a line of policy that they believe the King ought to pursue, and publicly demands, the would have to succumb. That is my idea in reply to your question what means there are of checking this irresistible rush to disgrace and ruin”....
Months earlier, the king had confided to an aide that he feared he might be overthrown. Members of his staff spent the night guarding him for several weeks after as he slept in the palace.
It was confirmed later that a secret organization, called the Hawaiian League, had been formed about the first of the year, consisting of some of the most powerful businessmen and their pastors. All were white, male and mostly Protestant.
Hyde refused to join the Hawaiian League, “objecting to the secret, underhand plottings involved in such a style of Procedure.” But his co-trustee [Charles Montague] Cooke was among the first to sign up. Kamehameha School principal Oleson was on its executive committee and vice principal Henry S. Townsend, was a member.
Members pledged to keep the League secret and to “protect the white community” of the kingdom “against any arbitrary or oppressive action of the government.”
The League held its first meeting at the home of Safford B. Dole. By June 30, 1887, it had 405 members. Meetings usually too place in the evening, and in different parts of the city, to frustrate police efforts to gather information on them.
Seizing control
The revolution was bloodless.
Kalakaua was stripped of power and the government fell into the hands of the Hawaiian League.
On July 5, 1887, the Honolulu Rifles were ordered out in full uniform. Their cartridge belts were full. Charles Bishop’s nephew, Eben Faxon Bishop, was one of the offices as a first lieutenant of Company B. In addition, League members armed themselves...
A man credited with financing the revolution was Trustee Damon, the banker. In July 1880, the “reform” cabinet named him minister of finance.
Kalakaua died in 1893 and was succeeded by Queen Lili`uokalani....
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2000/Mar/12/opinion6.html
~ ~ ~
For more history, GO TO > > >
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2000/May/21/opinion17.html
http://starbulletin.com/1999/10/01/editorial/viewpoint.html
http://starbulletin.com/1999/10/19/news/story7.html
http://www.hawaii-nation.org/pash.html
www.sovereignstories.org/courts.htm
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July 11, 2005
New life in Kakaako
By Dan Martin, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Kamehameha Schools is planning to kick-start a science-based development of its Kakaako land that could provide a shot in the arm to the urban district.
The plans represent a new Kakaako strategy for the state’s largest private landowner, which owns some of the most strategic parcels in the area but has been criticized for failing to provide leadership on revitalizing the gritty neighborhood of bars, warehouses and car dealerships.
Officials withe the charitable trust say it is their “fiduciary responsibility” to respond to the presence of the University of Hawaii’s nearly completed John A. Burns Medical School and associated facilities, which were built in the district partly to serve as a nucleus around which Hawaii’s young biosciences sector coul coalesce.
“We thought it was an opportune time to look at our holdings in the area and we’re committed now to being a major player in life sciences there,” said Bob Oda, project manager with the estate’s commercial real estate division.
No firm development deals are in the pipeline yet, but the $6 billion estate is applying for a special federal designation that would allow it to offer tax breaks to developers and other investors.
It also has brought together a steering committee of key financial, scientific and development players in the state and plans soon to announce a pair of “catalyst” development projects to kick things off....
The estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, whose lands provide the income that funds the education of Hawaiian children, owns 52 acres in the heart of the 700-acre district, leased to a range of owners. Its holding are less extensive that those of the state government and General Growth Properties, which owns Ala Moana and the various Victoria Ward retail properties. But Kamehameha Schools’ lands are in the heart of Kakaako, spanning the mauka and makai sides of Ala Moana boulevard.
These include parcels directly adjacent to the medical school. Now home to car dealerships and aging commercial low-rises, the trust hopes to lease these lands to developers and other investors that will build life-science research facilities and supporting commercial and residential developments.
The trust is putting together an application to have its area holdings designated a Community Development Entity under urban renewal legislation passed by Congress in 2000. This would allow investors to purchase equity in the entity and claims tax breaks of up to 39 percent on their investments.
The estate hopes the incentives, called the New Market Tax Credits, could reach $100 million and help to defray the high cost of building research-oriented space.
Ordinary office space generally costs around $300 a square foot to build. But Dr. Ed Cadman, the dean of the medical school and advocate of a life-sciences community centered around the school, says research facilities can run to $500 a square foot to build due to their special energy and ventilation needs....
The tax credits could provide a solution. State Act 221 technology tax credits are geared for investors with an existing Hawaii tax liability, limiting their usefulness for deep-pocketed mainland investors. But the estate hopes Act 221 and the federal tax credits together will bring in a healthy mix of both local and offshore investment.
“We want to provide the dirt and we let others come in with the capital,” said Kirk Belsby, the estate’s vice president for endowment.
Joining Belsby and Cadman on the group submitting the community development application is Dr. Leroy Hood, one of the world’s leading scientists in molecular biotechnology. Now based at Seattle’s Institute for Systems Biology, which he co-founded, Hood’s work in the 1960s and 70s set the stage for the eventual mapping of the human genome. He also help start a number of successful biomedical companies such as Amgen, Applied Biosystems and MacroGenics.
Belsby says the estate remains committed to life-sciences development even if it fails to secure the tax breaks. It has commissioned a $500,000 study from Washington, D.C.-based New Economy Strategies, expected to be completed next month, that will identify the most suitable life sciences disciplines to target....
“I’m very optimistic. I really think something is going to happen now,” said Sanford Murata, former director of the estate’s commercial real estate division.
http://www.starbulletin.com/2004/07/11/business/
For more, GO TO > > > Act 221; How to Pluck a Non-Profit; Kajima; Marsh & McLennan: The Marsh Birds
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May 19, 2005
Kamehameha Richer By $600M
By Rick Daysog, Honolulu Advertiser
The Kamehameha Schools saw its net assets increase more than 12 percent to $4.8 billion during its 2004 fiscal year as the charitable trust spent more than $171 million on its educational programs, according to the estate’s recent filing with the Internal Revenue Service.
The filing also shows that the Kamehameha Schools paid its top investment officer, Kirk Belsby, more than $523,000 during the 2004 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Belsby, the trust’s vice president of endowment, received $375,000 in base compensation, $14,669 in employee benefits and $134,187 in expenses and other allowances.
The estate’s chief executive officer, Dee Jay Mailer, who joined the estate near the middle of the fiscal year, received $204, 403 in base salary and other allowances. Her annual pay is about $350,000.
Kamehameha Schools’ total revenues soared to $483.5 million from $338.6 million in fiscal 2003. Net assets during the year rose to $4.8 billion from $4.2 billion.
“I don’t think you’ll find that the compensation levels are out of line with organizations of this size,” said Kekoa Paulsen, the estate’s spokesman.
The estate’s annual filing with the IRS also disclosed pay figures for other top executives and educators, including:
> Colleen Wong, the trust’s vice president for legal affairs, $240,744;
> Finance and administrative vice president Michael Loo, $230,414;
> Kapalama campus Headmaster Michael Chun, $215,413;
> Susan Todani, the estate’s director of Mainland investments, $211,595.
Trustee Nainoa Thompson earned $118,000 and fellow board member Constance Lau was paid $113,500. Trustees Robert Kihune and Diane Plotts received $105,000 and $103,500, respectively, while trustee Douglas Ing earned $100,500. Trustee pay is based in part on the number of hours worked.
The trust also made hefty payments to its outside consultants, such as JP Morgan Research, which received $2.8 million for investment management services and Group 70 International, which earned nearly $1.7 million while the Cades Schutte law firm of Honolulu earned $1.3 million.
The estate said it spent a total of $171 million on educational and other programs, which compares with $172.5 million in the year-earlier period.
Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 525-8064.
~ ~ ~
Catbird Curiosity Note: Rick Daysog was formerly the award-winning investigative reporter for rival newspaper The Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Why the big nest change, Rick?
~ ~ ~
See also: Synhrgy HR Technologies
For more on Kamehameha Schools investments, GO TO > > > A Connecticut Yankee in King Kamehameha’s Court; Ace Up the Sleeve; AIG: The Un-American Insurance Group; Allied World Assurance; Apollo Advisors; The Blackstone Group; The Carlyle Group; Claims By Harmon; Dirty Gold in Goldman Sachs; Investigating Investcorp; Marsh & McLennan: The Marsh Birds; The Myth & The Methane; Paradise Paved; The Story of Enron; The Strange Saga of BCCI; Woo vs. Harmon; Yakuza Doodle Dandies
$ $ $
March 25, 2005
Goldman Sachs offers to buy
Seibu Railway group for $8.5 billion
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has offered to buy the scandal-hit Seibu Railway group for about 900 billion yen ($8.5 billion dollars), a newspaper said.
Goldman Sachs has proposed purchasing Seibu Railway shares held by the group’s core company Kokudo and taking over Kokudo’s debt obligations, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, citing anonymous Seibu officials....
The group has been hit by a financial scandal.
Former Seibu railroad and hotel empire chief Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, once dubbed the world’s richest man, has been charged with falsifying financial statements to conceal his family control over the listed Seibu Railway.
He has also been indicted for insider trading after orchestrating the sale of shares in the now delisted railway firm before the concealment came to light.
The group’s reform panel was set to compile the final version of its reform plan centering around Kokudo’s absorption into Seibu Railway and a 200-billion-yen capital increase, the economic daily said.
The offer by Goldman Sachs would serve as an alternative to this plan, it said....
For more on Goldman Sachs, GO TO > > > A Connecticut Yankee in King Kamehameha’s Court; Ace Up the Sleeve; AIG: The Un-American Insurance Group; Allied World Assurance; Apollo Advisors; The Blackstone Group; The Carlyle Group; Dirty Gold in Goldman Sachs; Investigating Investcorp; Marsh & McLennan: The Marsh Birds; Paradise Paved; The Strange Saga of BCCI; Yakuza Doodle Dandies
THE CATBIRD CHRONICLES
THE KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS CONSPIRACIES
January 1, 2005 - Present
2005 - Jan - Under construction.
Take a peek now, if you wish, at some of the old and new birds who may have flocked together at
Kamehameha Schools....
~ o ~
James Duffy - Honolulu attorney; past Master for Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate; arbitrator for the insurance settlement with Federal Insurance Company for the state’s claims against the Kamehameha Schools’ trustees. Clients have included Colbert Matsumoto and developer Herbert Horita.
January 8, 1999
Judge denies estate’s motion
to have fact-finder disqualified
By Rick Daysog, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Probate Judge Colleen Hirai today denied a motion by the Bishop Estate’s majority trustees to disqualify appointed master Colbert Matsumoto.
Matsumoto - whose reports on the multibillion-dollar trust harshly criticized trustees’ management practices - did not show an actual bias when he supported re-election efforts of Gov. Ben Cayetano, according to the ruling.
Hirai likened Matsumoto’s job of court-appointed master to that of a part-time judge. Unlike full-time judges, a part-time one is allowed to support political candidates.
The estate’s majority trustees - Richard “Dickie” Wong, Henry Peters and Lokelani Lindsey - have argued that Matsumoto should be disqualified to avoid the appearance of impropriety. They said that Matsumoto not only supported Cayetano but placed his signature on a Cayetano flier to local attorneys that credits the governor for his investigation of the estate.
James Duffy, Matsumoto’s attorney, likened the trustees’ disqualification tactic to bullying. The trustees did not like Matsumoto’s report, so they personally attacked him, said Duffy....
Matsumoto’s reports for the estate’s 1994-1996 fiscal years have harshly criticize trustees’ management of the estate’s investments and for withholding $350 million from the estate-run Kamehameha Schools. Much of the reports served as grounds for Attorney General Margery Bronster’s petition to temporarily oust Peters, Wong, Lindsey and Gerard Jervis.
$ $ $
April 26, 2003
Royal Kunia Developer Files for Bankruptcy
Horita’s Halekua Development Corp.
owes the city $220,335
By Tim Ruel, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
A Herbert Horita company that is developing Royal Kunia on Oahu sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, owing between $50 million and $100 million in estimated debt.
One of Halekua Development Corp’s larger creditors is the city, which is owed $220,335.
“This action is needed to buy time for the company,” said company spokesman Jim Boersema. Halekua expects to emerge from bankruptcy within 120 days, clear off its debt and move forward with the development of Royal Kunia II, a 2,000-home subdivision in Waipahu, Boersema said....
Halekua’s assets are worth less than $50,000, according to the bankruptcy filing.
According to the bankruptcy petition, Halekua’s five biggest unsecured creditors are:
– Ayers Corp., owed $1.4 million.
– Park Engineering, $702,082.
– Larry Mehau’s Hawaii Protective Association, $415,126.
– AFW, $350,000.
– Stubenberg & Durrett, attorneys, $276,515.
Other creditors are a unit of the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the now-defunct Oahu Construction Co. and former City Councilman Jon Yoshimura.
Another Horita company, Royal Kunia Apartments Inc., declared bankruptcy in 1999 and sold off three townhome projects on 27 acres for $30 million.
Horita was the original developer of Ko Olina Resort and Marina in Leeward Oahu, envisioning a string of hotels, condominiums and golf courses, but plans fizzled when Japanese backers withdrew funding in the late 1980s.
Halekua owes a total of $5 million to its 20 largest unsecured creditors.
Steven Guttman, Halekua’s bankruptcy attorney, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Because of Halekua’s bankruptcy filing, the state Land Use Commission proposed a hearing in which Halekua was to argue why it should be allowed to keep 503 acres of undeveloped former agriculture land in Waikele classified as urban district.
As a condition of the rezoning, Halekua was to have developed infrastructure for an agricultural park and conveyed that park to the state by December of 1999. Since the developer had failed to comply with that requirement, the state Office of Planning had petitioned to have the land revert to an agriculture classification....
$ $ $
More of the story....
HALEKUA DEVELOPMENT: Case Summary & 20 Largest Unsecured Creditors
Debtor: Halekua Development Corporation
2024 North King Street, #209
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Bankruptcy Case No.: 03-10279
Chapter 11 Petition Date: April 25, 2003
Court: District of Hawaii
Judge: Robert J. Faris
Debtor’s Counsel: Steven Guttman, Esq.
Kessner Duca Umebayashi Bain & Matsunaga
220 South King St., 19th Flr
Honolulu, HI 96813
Estimated Assets: $0 to $50,000
Estimated Debts: $50 Million to $100 Million
Debtor’s 20 Largest Unsecured Creditors:
Entity Claim Amount
Ayers Corporation $1,390,000
ParEn, Inc., dba Park Engineer $702,082
Hawaii Protective Association $415,126
AFW $350,000
Stubenberg & Durrett $276,0515
Pacific Lumber Supply Inc. $260,000
Roy Y. Takeyama, Esq. $258,869
City & County of Honolulu $220,335
Herbert K. Horita Realty, Inc. $170,280
Fujiyama Duffy Fujiyama $154,000
John Chapman, Land Planning $150,000
Kajioka Okada Yamachi $128,772
Island Flooring Co., Inc. $127,327
William E. Wanket, Inc. $111,929
Hawaii Geotechnical Group, Inc. $105,231
Association $65,896
Oahu Construction Co., Ltd. $48,302
Ronald NS Ho & Associates $41,220
URS Corporation $40,700
Jon Yoshimura, Esq. $49,000
$ $ $
January 4, 2001
Clinton again nominates Duffy to U.S. appeals court.
The Honolulu Advertiser
In his waning days as president, Bill Clinton yesterday renominated Honolulu attorney, James Duffy for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. . . .
Duffy, 58, was first nominated in June to the 9th Circuit seat....
Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, submitted Duffy’s name to Clinton for consideration.
“I am very grateful to Sen. Inouye for his continued support,” Duffy said yesterday....
The former president of the Hawaii Bar Association closed his former law firm, Fujiyama, Duffy and Fujiyama, when he was first nominated and now runs his own firm....
JP Morgan Chase - A badly-battered Wall Street investment bank.
March 6, 2002
Insurers Accuse Morgan Chase of Fraud
By David Teather, The Guardian
JP Morgan Chase, the battered Wall Street investment bank, was delivered another blow last night when it lost an attempt to force 11 insurance companies to honour $965m in bonds related to failed firm Enron.
US district judge, Jed Rakoff sided with the insurance firms, some of which have launched a countersuit against JP Morgan alleging fraud.
The insurers claim the oil and gas contracts against which they issued the surety bonds masked straightforward loans. The contracts were between Enron and Mahonia, a JP Morgan affiliate.
Judge Rakoff said the insurers had provided enough evidence that the bonds “were the product” of fraud by the second-largest bank in the US, the deny JP Morgan immediate payment. “These arrangements now appear to be nothing but a disguised loan - or at least have sufficient [indications] thereof that the court could not possibly grant summary judgment to the plaintiff.”
A JP Morgan spokesman said: “This is a case about a commitment made by the insurance companies and a commitment not kept. We expect to prevail on the merits of our arguments.” ....
JP Morgan fell $325m into the red during the most recent quarter as a result of bad debts.
The bank wrote off $456m of trading losses and loans to Enron and still has exposure to potential losses of $2.1bn....
* * *
July 28, 2003
SEC Settles Enforcement Proceedings against J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup
~ ~ ~
The Securities and Exchange Commission today instituted and settled enforcement proceedings against two major financial institutions, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup, Inc., for their roles in Enron Corp.’s manipulation of its financial statements.
Each institution helped Enron mislead its investors by characterizing what were essentially loan proceeds as cash from operating activities.
The proceeding against Citigroup also resolves the Commission’s charges stemming from the assistance Citigroup provided Dynegy Inc. in manipulating that company’s financial statements through similar conduct....
“These two cases serve as yet another reminder that you can’t turn a blind eye to the consequences of your actions – if you know or have reason to know that you are helping a company mislead its investors, you are in violation of the federal securities laws,” said Stephen M. Cutler, Director of SEC’s Enforcement Division....
The Commission brought its Enron-related actions in coordination with the New York County District Attorney’s Office, which, also today, entered into settlement agreements with J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup....
The Commission’s investigations relating to Enron and Dynegy are continuing.
Nathan Aipa - A partner of Suemori & Aipa, concentrating his practice in the areas of trusts and estates, estate planning, real estate, risk management, and native Hawaiian rights.
He was also general counsel and COO of the Kamehameha Schools from 1985-2001.
For more, GO TO > > > RICO in Paradise
Park Engineering - Politically-connected engineering firm; headquartered in Bishop Estate’s Kawaiahao Plaza; former employer of Kamehameha Schools’ Dr. Michael Chun; recipient of numerous Bishop Estate and government non-bid contracts.
April 20, 2004
Contractor indicted over donations
Larry Matsuo’s firm is linked to more than $115,000
in dubious political contributions
By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin
City prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the former head of one of the state’s largest engineering firms, which is linked to more that $80,000 in questionable political contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris’s campaign.
In a complaint filed in state Circuit Court yesterday, prosecutors charged Larry Matsuo, former chief executive of Park Engineering, with one count of money laundering and one count of making a political contribution under a false name.
Matsuo’s attorney, Darwin Ching, had no immediate comment.
Money laundering is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Making a political donation under a false name is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
The complaint was filed about a month after Honolulu police arrested Matsuo on suspicion of money laundering and making false-name donations.
Matsuo joins a list of top local engineering executives targeted by Prosecutor Peter Carlisle’s two-year investigation into the Harris campaign....
Until recently, Matsuo headed Park Engineering, a government contractor linked to more than $115,000 in political donations to Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and ex-Maui Mayor James “Kimo” Apana....
The donations have also attracted the attention of the state Campaign Spending Commission, which started investigating the firm in 2002....
Founded in 1958, Park Engineering is one of the state’s largest engineering firms, receiving more than $5.5 million in non-bid consulting work from the city during the past eight years.
The city projects include a $1.5 million contract for sewer facilities in Kalihi Valley and a $300,000 engineering contract for the Ted Makalena Golf Course.
See also: Michael Chun
For more, GO TO > > > Predators in Paradise
Susan Tius - Attorney with Rush Moore Craven Sutton Morry & Beh; wife of Guido Giacometti.
For more, GO TO > > > More Claims By Harmon: Rush Moore LLP
Synhrgy HR Technologies - A company you may not have heard of (unless you happen to have been an employee of Enron).
September 5, 2003
Locals jump on offshore
outsourcing bandwagon
By Christine Hall, Houston Business Journal
Synhrgy HR Technologies Inc., one of Houston’s fastest-growing technology companies, is looking to India for the right company to help it fulfill its mission in the most cost-effective way and improve customer service.
It’s a move Synhrgy is not taking lightly, as the topic of offshore outsourcing is raising heated discussions around the water coolers of companies throughout the country.
Besides human resources, Synhrgy also develops the technology it uses to carry out outsourcing functions. Although the programming and coding aspect of the technology is done elsewhere, the company wanted to continue managing the design and quality assurance of it in Houston, says Michael Taggart, president of Synhrgy....
Catching Up
For many public and private businesses, an abundance of software work or a shortage of experienced personnel could send upper management into a state of panic.
To ease the backlog, companies like Synhrgy have turned to software outsourcing – increasingly, offshore, to operations in other countries.
Today, more that 90 percent of U.S. companies outsource one or more activities, including call center monitoring, according to a Harvard Business Review study. Many of those agreements are with programs in India and the Philippines, two nations with plentiful supply of well-educated people, says Chip Rainey, a partner in the technology and commercial transaction practice of Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP’s Houston office.
“This topic is controversial now because a number of people think the United States will become a nation of consumers if most of the work is done overseas,” he says. “There was the same type of discussion in the 1950s and 1960s about garment manufacturing and automobiles that went into the 1970s and 1980s during robust growth, and into now where the costs of production go to those who can do it for the least.”
Internet intervention
With the advent of the Internet and the move to put everything online for easy-access by users, services needed to keep up the Web sites are crossing borders.
Even small transactions such as the purchase of books online are pushing both online book stores and physical stores to compete in attracting consumers. The trend has also crossed over to areas such as the banking industry where almost all aspects of basic banking can be done through the Internet.
“Many of the call centers or companies processing the information could be located in Canada or Poland or Ireland,” Rainey says....
Questions swirl around the issue of possible negative affects of globalization and offshore outsourcing, but Rainey says the answers depend on whether U.S. companies will continue to be more innovative than those located in other lands.
“We’ve created the Internet and moved everything to that, so we are not in a position where we can stop being innovative,” he says.
Job shift
Over the next 15 years, U.S. companies are expected to send 3.3 million service industry jobs and $136 billion in wages offshore to countries such as India, Russia, China and the Philippines, mainly by information technology companies, according to a study by Forrester Research.
While there is a fear of job loss, most of the typical jobs that are being lost due to outsourcing are still the lower paying jobs, Rainey says. Some of the American workers who are being replaced have an opportunity to retrain and come back into better paying jobs, he adds.
The loss of all of the jobs in the U.S. is not related to outsourcing, he notes.
“In the past two years, we saw the strongest job creation in history, but there has been a net loss of jobs in the U.S.,” Rainey says. “If a company isn’t able to stay efficient, it will lose out to competitors.”
Cost savings is a reason many companies have jumped onto the outsourcing bandwagon, but it is not one of the major reasons, according to the Harvard Business Review survey.
The opportunity to have a highly qualified technician work on a project is one of the major reasons work is sent to countries such as India, according to Mathew George, president of East West Software Services Inc., a Houston-based firm specializing in outsourcing to India.
“Many of the jobs being done by those with only high school education in the United States can be done by highly-skilled people in India,” he says.
To demonstrate the professionalism of outsourcing, George frequently offers to provide U.S. companies a sample of the work on a difficult project without charge....
That method was used, he adds, in getting work for Centerpoint Energy. George’s company helped to set up the remote updation of Centerpoint’s gas and electric service orders....
Weighing options
Synhrgy is one of the companies projecting to save one-fourth to one-third of its costs by outsourcing, but Taggart is not dismissing the concerns many of his clients are addressing if direct contact work were to be moved to India.
“A concern was raised that, if we put a call center overseas, would the person taking calls understand the subtleties well enough to satisfy the person asking the question,” he says.
To address this, Synhrgy is coming up with a plan to ease into outsourcing by initially moving some operations, such as the back-office data processing, which has little to no direct customer contact, Taggart says. The next step will be to incorporate some direct customer services.
Another concern is protecting intellectual property. Forming a partnership with another company involves sharing private customer information.
“There was a concern that if we did that, would we, at some point, be training someone to be a competitor?” Taggart says. “You have to be careful about the relationship, making sure the other company is a partner and not a vendor.”...
Even though a decision is still being made on the right company, Taggart feels outsourcing will allow the company to continue to grow and meet the needs of its customers.
(c) American City Business Journals, Inc.
January 7, 2004
Mercer agrees to buy Synhrgy
Houston Business Journal
Mercer Human Resource Consulting has agreed to buy Synhrgy HR Technologies in a move to expand its consulting and outsourcing services.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mercer Human Resource Consulting, part of Mercer Inc. - a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. - is the world’s largest human resource consulting firm providing consulting on human resource issues and employee benefit programs.
Houston-based Synhrgy provides human resource technology and outsourcing services to Fortune 1000 companies....
For more, GO TO > > > Mercer Consulting
~ ~ ~
Catbird catcall: If you’re an ex-Enron employee, and want to check on your health benefits or your pension plan, you can ...
GO TO > > > The Enron Health and Group Benefits Service Center.
Or, if you don’t have your Password, you can call the Benefits Service Center at (800) 332-7979, Option 1. (Hopefully, you’ll get someone who can speak English.)
For more, GO TO > > > The Story of Enron
Stanford Carr Developers - One of Hawaii’s newest and largest developers.
For more, GO TO > > > Paradise Paved
Zurich Financial Services - One of the world’s largest insurance companies. Companies include Farmers, Kemper. Engaged in mega-deals with Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.
For more, GO TO > > > Zeroing In On Zurich Financial Services
MORE TO COME
MEANWHILE, FOR MORE FLOCKING BIRDS, GO TO...
THE CARLYLE GROUP: BIRDS THAT DRINK FROM CESSPOOLS
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING KAMEHAMEHA’S COURT
THE KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS’ RETIREMENT FUND
THE CONSUELO ZOBEL ALGER FOUNDATION
MARSH & McLENNAN: THE MARSH BIRDS
PRUDENTIAL: A NEST ON SHAKY GROUND
P-S-S-T, WANNA BUY A GOOD AUDIT?
SUKAMTO SIA: THE INDONESIAN CONNECTION
VULTURES OF THE SANDWICH ISLES
NEW >>> THE WASHINGTON BASEBALL CLUB <<< NEW
NEW >>> ZEROING IN ON ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES <<< NEW
MORE OF THE CATBIRD’S FAVORITE LINKS
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Last updated November 8, 2005, by The Catbird
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