Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM
Louisville, Kentucky 40229-1655
April 6, 2004
VIA fax only @ (559) 490-1919
Mr. Justin W. Schuck, Case Manager
Julie A. Schermerhorn, Supervisor
American Arbitration Association
6795 North Palm Avenue, 2nd Ave.
Fresno, California 93704
RE: Mary Lou Woo, Trustee v. Bobby N. Harmon - Case No. 74 166 00491 03 JUSC
This responds to Steven Guttman’s letter dated April 5, 2004, in which he stated, in part:
“In compliance with your communications of March 25 and 29, 2004, this letter responds to Mr. Harmon’s letters dated March 18, 19, 20, 23, 2004 ... This letter will also respond to Mr. Harmon’s most recent letter of April 1, 2004.
“As in his previous correspondence, Mr. Harmon’s letters of March 18, 19 and 20, 2004, again offer nothing but an endless stream of information concerning activities which have no relationship to this case. Mr. Harmon continues to send letters that fail to offer any evidence to supports [sic] his contention that Ms. Neustadter should not serve as the arbitrator due to a conflict of interest. AAA continues to allow Mr. Harmon to send his repetitious letters and, arguably, encourages him to do so by repeatedly requesting our comment. We reiterate our position that the appointment of Ms. Neustadter was proper and that she should be reaffirmed as the arbitrator as she does not have a conflict....”
Mr. Guttman, again, does not provide any specific, factual arguments to support his position. He merely states his opinion that my letters are “nothing but an endless stream of information concerning activities which have no relationship to this case,” and that my letters “fail to offer any evidence to supports [sic] his contention that Ms. Neustadter should not serve as the arbitrator due to a conflict of interest.” I continue to maintain that my many arguments, supported by an “endless stream” of facts, do offer irrefutable evidence that Ms. Neustadter does, indeed, have multiple conflicts of interest in this case.
Mr. Guttman continues in his letter of April 5, 2004:
“The March 18 letter references the fact that this firm had been retained in a specific unrelated case by the County of Maui to serve as special counsel. At the time the County of Maui hired this firm, I was not a member of the law firm. Further, and more importantly, the relationship of this firm to the County of Maui has no nexus to Ms. Neustadter serving as an arbitrator in this case. Similarly, the campaign spending violations discussed in Mr. Harmon’s March 19 letter are unrelated to either this case or Ms. Neustadter. All of the letters contain the same fundamental flaw and Mr. Harmon’s voluminous correspondence centers on Ms. Neustadter serving as a hearing officer of a department of the County of Maui. AAA should advise Mr. Harmon that Ms. Neustadter’s position as a hearings officer does not create a conflict as to this case and that she will not be removed based upon this relationship.”
This statement by Mr. Guttman illustrates a fundamental flaw in his logic. He makes the assumption that Ms. Neustadter’s position as a hearing officer for the Maui Planning Commission does not create a conflict as to this case, and, therefore, no amount of factual information that I provide can prove otherwise.
According to the AAA’s National Rules for the Resolution of Employment Disputes, “The AAA’s policy on employment ADR is guided by the state of existing law, as well as its obligation to act in an impartial manner.” It is my understanding that this would mean that you look at the facts in the case, and would not base your decisions on the assumptions or opinions of the opposing parties in the case.
According to the instructions on the AAA’s Arbitration Disclosure Form: “It is most important that the parties have complete confidence in the arbitrator’s impartiality. Therefore, please disclose any past or present relationship with the parties or their counsel, direct or indirect, whether financial, professional, social or of any other kind. If any relationships arise during the course of the arbitration or if there is any change at any time in the biographical information that you have provided to the AAA, it must also be disclosed. Any doubt should be resolved in favor of disclosure.”
Again, I must state the obvious in this case: I do not have “complete confidence” in Ms. Neustadter’s impartiality for the reasons stated in my many previous letters, plus reasons I am unable to disclose due to the fact that I am under a court injunction not to release supposedly “confidential” documents (which I no longer have), and due to certain confidentiality provisions contained in the Settlement Agreement which is at issue in these arbitration proceedings.
Mr. Guttman goes on to state in his April 5, 2004, letter:
“The eight page April 1 letter is another repeat of Mr. Harmon’s flawed logic. The letter discusses Mr. Stanford Carr and his relationship to a development on the island of Maui. While the information regarding Mr. Carr makes for interesting reading, he has no relationship to this case. Please stop encouraging Mr. Harmon by requesting my comments on his letters.”
Although I appreciate his compliment that the information makes for interesting reading, Mr. Guttman, again, is merely stating his opinion that Stanford Carr’s developments have no relationship to this case. If you will re-read my letter of April 1, 2004, you will find that I went to great lengths to show the factual connections of Stanford Carr to Kamehameha Schools and the Maui Planning Commission. However, if your office still requires additional information regarding Stanford Carr, and other Maui developers, I refer you to the following website:
www.the-catbird-seat.net/Developers.htm
Although Mr. Guttman expressed his opinion regarding Judith Neustadter’s serving as a hearing officer for the Maui Planning Commission, he completely fails to respond to the following arguments in my April 1 letter:
In addition to Judith Neustadter Fuqua being a hearing officer for the Maui Planning Commission, you will recall that she also disclosed in her resume that she is the Vice President/Secretary of Hana & Kipahulu Land Company, Ltd, 1999-present.
According to their website at www.hanalandman.com: “Owner Ray Fuqua is a 21 year Maui resident and has been involved in Maui real estate for almost as long. He is the founder and Principle Broker of Hana & Kipahulu Land Co., Ltd.”
Ms. Neustadter also states in her resume that clients include “real estate brokers/ agents ... real property purchasers and sellers; home owners associations; and creditors, debtors, and consumers.”
The above-quoted article states that, in 1999, “Stanford Carr Development bought out the portfolio of C. Brewer & Co. and its stalled development.” You may recall that in a letter to you dated July 25, 2003, I wrote:
“Mauna Loa was a former subsidiary of C. Brewer & Company before it was sold. Another of the major assets of this company, Brewer Environmental Industries, was sold to a partnership in which Robert Katz, Esq. was a partner. Robert Katz and Torkildson Katz Fonseca Jaffe Moore & Hetherington, were Defendants in my RICO lawsuit. Torkildson Katz is also the firm that has demanded to Steven Guttman and Trustee Mary Lou Woo that I stop my “letter-writing campaign” which is one of the issues to be arbitrated.
“More can be found at: www.the-catbird-seat.net/Paradise and www.the-catbird-seat.net/BuzzardsOfParadise.”
< END OF QUOTATION >
Although Mr. Guttman stated his opinion regarding Ms. Neustadter’s serving as hearing officer for the Maui Planning Committee, he provides no comments or arguments regarding her relationships with the real estate operations of Ray Fuqua and Hana & Kipahulu Land Company, or about the connections between Stanford Carr Development, C. Brewer & Company, and Torkildson Katz Fonseca Jaffe Moore & Hetherington.
Mr. Guttman continues in his letter:
“As for Mr. Harmon’s letter of March 23, only Mr. Harmon would have the chutzpah to allege that we have delayed the resolution of this case. Please note that when I requested that the March 22, 2004 management conference be rescheduled, I explained to the AAA that a conflicting hearing had been set by the First Circuit Court, State of Hawaii, in a complex litigation involving numerous parties. I don’t believe a further explanation is needed or required.”
I would point out that my letter of March 23 was simply asking for evidence that this alleged conflicting hearing did, in fact, exist. This request was, as I stated in my letter, similar to Mr. Guttman asking for documents from the hospital and treating physician regarding my mother’s health condition.
My specific request for documentation was, “I believe that it is now incumbent upon Mr. Guttman to provide a reasonable explanation as to why he had this last minute scheduling conflict. I also would request that he provide a copy of the First Circuit Court docket, showing the Case Number, the name of the judge, the parties involved, and the time of his court hearing.”
I believe this request for documentation is not unreasonable considering the fact that I am not located in Hawaii, and do not, as yet, have legal representation, so that I am unable to trot down to the First Circuit Court to verify Mr. Guttman’s veracity, or lack thereof.
Mr. Guttman goes on to write:
“In his letter of March 24, Mr. Harmon requests the [sic] any future conference be held in abeyance until such time as he receives a response from P&C Insurance. Based upon previous communications from P&C Insurance and its counsel, it is clear that the insurance company has no intention whatsoever of involving itself with Mr. Harmon in this proceeding. As such, we will not agree to hold off on scheduling future conferences or to further delay this arbitration proceeding.”
As Mr. Guttman well knows, the previous responses from P&C Insurance Company and their attorney, Matt Tsukazaki, Esq. of Torkildson Katz Fonseca Jaffe Moore & Hetherington, to my tender of defense in this case, were improper for the reasons presented in my six-page letter to Mr. Tsukazaki dated March 9, 2004, a copy of which was provided to your office, Trustee Mary Lou Woo, and others. A copy of this letter can be found on the internet at:
www.the-catbird-seat.net/AAA-3-9-4.htm
Based upon the above information, I again dispute the opinions of Complainant Mary Lou Woo and her attorney Steven Guttman as expressed in his letter of April 5, 2004. I continue to maintain that the facts show that Judith Neustadter Fuqua is conflicted in this case and should be disqualified without further delay.
Sincerely yours,
Bobby N. Harmon
cc: Mary Lou Woo, Trustee, c/o Steven Guttman, Esq. (via fax @ 808-529-7177)
Dee Jay Mailer, CEO, Kamehameha Schools (via fax @ 808-523-6313)
Casimer Fidele, Island Insurance Co. (via fax @ 808-521-7489)
Governor Linda Lingle, State of Hawaii (via fax @ 808-586-0006)
J.P. Schmidt, Hawaii Insurance Commissioner (via fax @ 808-586-2806)
Hugh Jones, Deputy Attorney General (via fax @ 808-586-1477)
Janet S. Hughes, Manager, IRS (via fax @ 303-844-3596)
Peter B. Clark, U.S. Dept of Justice, Criminal Div. (via fax @ 202-514-7021)
Tai K. Lee, Special Agent, U.S. Dept of the Treasury (via fax @ 808-539-2810)
Hawaii State Ethics Commission (via fax @ 808-587-0470)
Tax Foundation of Hawaii (via fax @ 808-536-4588)
Mayor Alan Arakawa, County of Maui (via fax @ 808-270-7870)
County Clerk, County of Maui, Legislative Branch (via fax @ 808-270-7171)
Council of the County of Maui (via fax @ 808-270-7686)
Honolulu City Council (via fax @ 808-523-4220)
State of Hawaii, Campaign Spending Commission (via fax @ 808-586-0288)
State of Hawaii, Land Use Commission (via fax @ 808-587-3827)
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Honolulu (via fax @ 808-594-1865)
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Maui (via fax @ 808-243-5016)
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Washington, D.C. (via fax @ 202-466-7797)
Maui Planning & Land Use Committee (via e-mail: plu.committee@co.maui.hi.us)
Hawaii State Senators (via e-mail: sens@Capitol.hawaii.gov )
Hawaii State Representatives (via e-mail: reps@Capitol.hawaii.gov )
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris (via e-mail: mayor@co.honolulu.hi.us )
Jim Dooley, Honolulu Advertiser (via e-mail: jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com )
Rick Daysog, Honolulu Star-Bulletin (via e-mail: rdaysog@starbulletin.com)
Sally Apgar, Honolulu Star-Bulletin (via e-mail: sapgar@starbulletin.com)
Ian Lind, www.ilind.net (via e-mail: diary@ilind.net)
This is a leaf from
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