Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM
Louisville, Kentucky 40229-1655
August 9, 2003
VIA fax only @ (559) 490-1919
Ms. Julie A. Schermerhorn, Supervisor, and
Mr. Justin W. Schuck, Case Manager
American Arbitration Association
6795 North Palm Avenue, 2nd Floor
Fresno, California 93704
RE: Mary Lou Woo, Trustee v. Bobby N. Harmon
Case No. 74 166 00491 03 JUSC
Dear Ms. Schermerhorn and Mr. Schuck:
This responds to Steven Guttman’s letter to you dated August 9, 2003, which he begins by saying:
“First, as to Mr. Harmon’s comments regarding the permanent injunction, we have repeatedly advised Mr. Harmon that his insistence on forwarding copies of correspondence relating to issues addressed in the Settlement Agreement to third parties constitutes a violation of the injunction. In fact, his breach of the confidentiality clause of the Agreement is one of the reasons this matter is before the AAA for resolution. Nevertheless, Mr. Harmon continues his behavior; i.e., transmitting copies of correspondence regarding the selection of an AAA arbitrator to the Internal Revenue Service, the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office, the Hawaii Governor’s Office, etc. We are not agreeable to a waiver of the permanent injunction and, in fact, reiterate our demand that Mr. Harmon immediately cease and desist from communicating with third parties concerning matters relating to the confidential Settlement Agreement.”
I continue to disagree with Mr.Guttman’s interpretation that my communications to the regulatory agencies he mentions is a breach of the confidentiality clause. However, my understanding is that this issue is to be decided with the Arbitration process, and not by the AAA. If this needs to be decided at this point, however, I would argue that a person’s right to report criminal activity to regulatory authorities cannot be prohibited under any legal contract. I would surmise that this would be especially true if the crimes were committed after the contract was signed.
Mr. Guttman continues:
“Secondly, the land appraisals and land use decisions referenced in Mr. Harmon’s comments objecting to the appointment of Ms. Neustadter have nothing whatsoever to do with her selection of an arbitrator in this proceeding. We have no idea why in his letter of August 7, 2003, he chose to share with the AAA the newspaper story concerning ‘Developer to clean up Maalaea Bay runoff’. Ms. Neustadter is not mentioned in the article; even if she had been mentioned, the story has no relationship whatsoever to this proceeding or to Ms. Neustadter’s role as the arbitrator.”
Again, I must disagree with Mr. Guttman. I chose this one particular article because it seemed to summarize fairly well just one of the many controversies and accusations of improper and illegal kick-backs to land use commissioners, and violations of EPA regulations, that have arisen over the years in Hawaii. As I have mentioned in previous letters, I feel there is too much public information available in court cases and media reports to include everything in these letters. However, if that is what it will take to convince you that there is, at the very least, a potential conflict-of-interest with Ms. Neustadter, I can fax you dozens, if not hundreds, of pages of additional material.
Mr. Guttman continues:
“Thirdly, Ms. Neustadter’s personal politics, whatever they may be, are not pertinent to the question of whether she can serve as the arbitrator in this matter. We don’t believe Mr. Harmon meant to imply that he has documents evidencing that Ms. Neustadter may have made an ‘illegal political contribution’ but, if he believes he has such evidence, he should expressly so state. At a minimum, he needs to clarify his statement on this specific point, which he can do without violating the injunction. As to whether Mr. Harmon has evidence that someone associated with the County of Maui may have made an ‘illegal political contribution’, quite frankly, such evidence has no relevancy to Ms. Neustadter’s appointment as the arbitrator in this case.”
Mr. Guttman is correct in that I did not mean to imply that I have documents evidencing that Ms. Neustadter may have made an “illegal political contribution.” To clarify my intent, in my testimony to the Attorney General’s office, and to the IRS, I did provide first-hand information about certain illegal political activities of Kamehameha Schools involving Gil Tam, Nathan Aipa, Nam Snow, Henry Peters, Milton Holt and others within this organization. The point is not that Ms. Neustadter was personally involved with any of these activities, but that her position on the Maui Land Use Commission places her in a position where she has influenced in the past, and can influence in the future, land use matters involving the vast land holdings of Kamehameha Schools. In my view, this should be sufficient cause to disqualify Ms. Neustadter.
With all the public information available on this subject, I, too, feel it should not be necessary to obtain a waiver of the permanent injunction, but Mr. Guttman seems to require an even greater, overwhelming abundance of evidence than is available to the general public. The only possible way I would be able to provide such a degree of evidence would be to have the injunction lifted.
Mr. Guttman continues:
“Fourthly, as noted above, this matter has come before the AAA for resolution due in significant part to Mr. Harmon’s ongoing breach of the confidentiality clause of the Settlement Agreement. A review of the issues pending before the AAA in this case establishes the fact that it concerns contract law and not employment law as Mr. Harmon settled all employment issues when he entered into the settlement agreement that is the subject of this arbitration. Therefore, it is not material whether the information disclosed in Ms. Neustadter’s resume addresses specific experience in the area of employment law.”
Again, I disagree with Mr. Guttman’s interpretation of the Settlement Agreement, and his statement that this case does not involve employment law. I have been guided in this case by the AAA’s published National Rules for the Resolution of Employment Disputes which states, “Arbitrators serving under these rules shall be experienced in the field of employment law.” If Mr. Guttman’s interpretation of these rules is correct, then should not the AAA have informed me of this fact before the selection process commenced? I ask the AAA to keep in mind that I am not an attorney, and not yet represented by an attorney, so I may not be aware of all the legal aspects regarding these issues.
I would also point out that Disputed Issue No. 2 reads, “Whether the payment of the settlement proceeds under the Agreement constitute wages from the Kamehameha Schools and are entitled to such treatment.” Also, Issue No. 5, which is the “letter writing campaign” issue, began with my initial request for my IRS W-2 and 1099-R forms, and the large majority of my letters have dealt with this issue. I continue to maintain that Social Security wages and Pension Plan benefits ARE employment issues which require experience in the field of employment law.
Mr. Guttman continues:
“Today I received a copy of a letter Mr. Harmon sent to United States attorneys apparently involved in litigation he describes as ‘UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff v. MAUI PLANNING COMMISSION, Defendant.’ Although Ms. Neustadter was the hearing officer involved in a church being denied a special use permit, it has nothing whatsoever to do with her appointment as the arbitrator in this case.”
What my letter stated was, “This is to report what may be an attempt to obstruct justice in the subject case,” and I refer you back to my earlier statement that I would argue that a person’s right to report criminal activity to regulatory authorities cannot be prohibited under any legal contract. I do not feel it is necessary or appropriate to comment further on this matter at this time. The simple, and obvious, point is that Ms. Neustadter’s position on the Maui Planning Commission creates, at the very least, a potential conflict-of-interest.
Finally, Mr. Guttman states:
“Ms. Neustadter has informed the AAA she is not aware of any conflict in her serving as arbitrator in this proceeding. The Trustee has no knowledge of a conflict. ... Nothing in Mr. Harmon’s communications concerning Ms. Neustadter evidences a conflict and much of his commentary, while interesting as to his theories regarding Hawaii politics, have no bearing on Ms. Neustadter serving as the arbitrator.”
In response to this I would say that what I have stated in my communications are not my “theories regarding Hawaii politics,” but are based on documented cases. As stated previously, I can provide you hundreds or thousands of pages of documents, or you can obtain them on the internet if you conduct a search of the various combinations of the keywords, “fraud, scandals, corruption, Kamehameha Schools trustees, Maui Planning Commission, land use controversies, illegal lobbying, Milton Holt, Henry Peters, Nathan Aipa, Colleen Wong, Louanne Kam, Hamilton McCubbin, Torkildson Katz, Richard Wong, Sukamto Sia, Bank of Honolulu”, etc.
Therefore, despite Ms. Neustadter’s statement to the contrary, it is still my belief that she does have at least a potential conflict of interest and I reaffirm my objections to her appointment as Arbitrator in this case. I would also repeat my suggestions that you consider Daniel Bent as a replacement for Ms. Neustadter, and formally query Trustee Mary Lou Woo if she would have any factual objections to his appointment.
Please advise if any of my arguments in this communication are unclear, or if further information is required before you can render a decision.
Sincerely,
Bobby N. Harmon
cc’s: Steven Guttman, Atty for Mary Lou Woo (via fax only @ 808-529-7177)
Trustees R. Kihune, J. Ing, C. Lau, D. Plotts, N. Thompson, Kamehameha Schools
(via fax only @ 808-523-6313)
P&C Insurance Company c/o Aon (via fax only @ 808-540-4301)
Casimer Fidele, Island Insurance Co. (via fax only @ 808-539-9738)
Matt Tsukazaki, Esq., Torkildson Katz... (via fax only @ 808-523-6001)
Hawaii Atty. Gen. Mark Bennett (via fax only @ 808-586-1239)
Dr. Randy Roth, Office of the Governor (via fax only @ 808-586-0006)
J.P. Schmidt, Hawaii Insurance Commissioner (via fax only @ 808-586-2806)
Janet S. Hughes, Mgr., IRS (via fax only @ 303-844-3596)
Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Asst. U.S. Attorney General (via fax only @ 202-5141116)
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