Woo vs. Harmon - Witness Nainoa Thompson

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

NAINOA THOMPSON

Kamehameha Schools
567 S. King Street, Suite 310
Honolulu, HI 96813

Nainoa Thompson is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Kamehameha Schools; son of former Trustee Myron Thompson.

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THE CATBIRD’S NEST

TRACKING THE TRUSTEES!

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May 9, 2009

Kamehameha trustee
extensions requested

Terms expiring; report cites program continuity

By Rick Daysog

Advertiser Staff Writer

A court-appointed master for the Kamehameha Schools is recommending a one-year extension for trustee Robert Kihune, whose term ends next month.

In a 117-page report filed with the state Probate Court last month, attorney David Fairbanks also recommended a one-year extension for trustee Diane Plotts and two-year extensions for board members Douglas Ing and Nainoa Thompson.

"The potential for loss of substantial institutional knowledge, wisdom, continuity, momentum and even stability is great, and the threats of an interruption in the present, established path of governance, a less-than-smooth transition ... and interruption of important, newly implemented programs are very real," Fairbanks wrote.

Kihune, a retired Navy vice admiral, will step down June 30 after having served on Kamehameha School's board since 2000.

A Probate Court-appointed trustee screening committee recently named three finalists to replace Kihune. They included state Department of Hawaiian Homes Lands Chairman Micah Kane, state Community Development Authority Executive Director Anthony Ching and former Kamehameha Schools executive and ex-DHHL Chairman Ray Soon.

Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones, whose office serves as the legal guardian for the estate, had no comment, saying he has not yet completed his review of Fairbanks' recommendations.

A trust spokesman also had no comment but said the estate will file a response to Fairbanks' recommendations with the Probate Court shortly.

Kamehameha Schools, which was established by the 1883 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, is a nonprofit charitable trust that educates Hawaiian children.

It is one of the nation's largest charities and is Hawai'i's largest private landowner, with more than 360,000 acres.

In addition to extending current trustees' terms, Fairbanks also recommended that future board members receive a 10-year term.

Currently, all five trustees serve five-year terms and are eligible for up to two terms. Thompson's term ends next year, Plotts' tenure ends in 2011 and Ing's term ends 2012.

Trustees earn about $90,000 a year.

Fairbanks said he was satisfied with the progress made by Kamehameha CEO Dee Jay Mailer and her management team but expressed concern about continuity within Kamehameha's boardroom in light of the recent financial challenges faced by the trust.

His report noted that the value of the trust's endowment dropped by 20.4 percent from $9.44 billion on June 30, 2008, to $7.36 billion on Dec. 31, 2008, as a result of the global financial downturn and the national economy.

(Catbird note: Not to mention the greed, corruption and mismanagement of the current Kamehameha Schools’ trustees and management who they now want to EXTEND a couple of years ... so they can lose another $2 or $3 billion???)

"The recent dramatic downturn in the economy, significant losses in investments, the decline in the real estate market with attendant reductions in revenues and lower values, and their potential adverse impact upon the trust's educational programs including outreach programs, make it critical that the transition to an essentially brand new board of trustees be as smooth as possible," he said.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090509/NEWS01/905090325/1001 ~ ~ ~

March 17, 2009

Trustee Pay Revisited

by Rick Daysog

Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools received much deserved applause last month when they rejected a court-approved pay increase plan and instead took a 10 percent pay cut.

After all, it's the prudent thing to do in face of the trust’s weakened financial condition, members of the Kamehameha Schools ohana have said.

But others, including former Gov. Ben Cayetano believe the way trustee pay is set is still out of whack and opens the trust to the type of abuses that haunted the estate during the late 1990s.

Previously, trustee pay was based on a formula set by law which entitled them to up to 2 percent of the estate’s annual gross. That resulted in $1 million-a-year trustee pay checks that nearly got the trust's tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Service.

Now, trustee pay is supposed to be set at reasonable levels. Every several years, a Probate Court-appointed panel is supposed to come up with recommendations on what those reasonable levels are.

In 2004, the panel approved raising trustees maximum pay by more than 69 percent, generating much criticism among the schools’ ohana and the state Attorney General.

Probate Judge Colleen Hirai approved that increase but trustees turned it down.

Last year, the panel approved a similar plan before trustees decided to take their pay cut. The increase was again opposed by some members of the Kamehameha ohana as well as by the Attorney General’s office.

According to Cayetano, the lack of a more permanent trustee compensation schedule exposes the trust to future controversies.

In the past, the lucrative trustee compensation served as the “root cause for the ethical and political problems” that plagued the estate during the 1980s and 1990s, Cayetano wrote in his recently published memoir “Ben.”

It not only led to corrupted trust but it also tarnished the state Legislature and the state judiciary.

No doubt, the ethical characters of current Trustees Nainoa Thompson, Douglas Ing, Robert Kihune, Diane Plotts and Corbett Kalama are unquestioned. All are dedicated to the trust’s mission of educating native Hawaiian children.

But in approving steep pay raises for the trustees, Cayetano see a potential for history repeating itself:

“One could only wonder whether the panel, the probate judge and the new trustees had learned any lessons from the Bishop Estate controversy,” he wrote.

“The failure of the new trustees to ‘clean house’ left me wondering whether the problems that vexed the old trustees and the Bishop Estate would emerge again one day when the passing of time had blurred the reasons the reforms were made in the first place.”

Tags: Ben Cayetano, Kamehameha Schools, Trustee pay

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NEW DISCOVERY (11-24-08): New Exhibit: “EQ 2048 - Deposition of Lokelani Lindsey taken on November 4 & 9, 1999". This document provides clear evidence that J. Douglas Ing had multiple conflicts-of-interest in this case and, since he was not a named Defendant in my RICO lawsuit against the former Trustees, he was not a legitimate signatory to the Settlement Agreement: Furthermore, since the Settlement Agreement was NOT SIGNED by any of the five Trustees actually named as Defendants, the Settlement Agreement was not legal or valid. (See Exhibit A)

http://www.kycbs.net/Lindsey-docs-Vol-1-p1-4.pdf

http://www.kycbs.net/Lindsey-docs-Vol-1.pdf

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NEW DISCOVERY (04-26-09): Undisclosed conflicts of interest between David Farmer, Sharon Himeno, Bishop Museum, Timothy Johns, Donna Tanoue, Haunani Apoliona, The Nature Conservancy, Suzanne Case, Faye Kurren, Mark Polivka, Dee Jay Mailer, Nainoa Thompson, Robert Alm, Neil Hannahs, Michael Chun, etc:

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/images/pdf/Annual_report.pdf

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November 17, 2003

Trustees Celebrate Ruling Upholding
Admissions Policy

The Board of Trustees of Kamehameha Schools today celebrated federal Judge Alan Kay's ruling upholding the Schools' 116-year old policy of offering admissions preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry.

"This is an incredible day for Kamehameha Schools," said board chair Constance Lau. "We are ecstatic that what Hawaiians have always felt was right, what we have always felt was pono, has been upheld today in a court of law."

In upholding the preference policy, Judge Kay noted Princess Pauahi's intent as expressed in 1887 by her husband, Charles Reed Bishop, that her schools educate Hawaiian children first. He also agreed that Hawaiians continue to suffer educational and societal imbalances as a result of historical wrongs.

Kay stressed that Kamehameha Schools is a private institution, and said that in its 1993 Apology Resolution, the U.S. Congress determined that the imbalances resulted in part from the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

Trustee Douglas Ing noted, "Judge Kay's ruling is important because it recognizes Kamehameha Schools' role in improving the capability and well-being of Hawaiians through education. We understand today's ruling will be appealed and that we face another legal battle in Judge Ezra's courtroom tomorrow, however, we are hopeful that the U.S. judicial system will recognize the importance of Kamehameha to the Hawaiian community and the entire state."

"Kamehameha Schools is a symbol of hope for the Hawaiian community and this ruling is a restoration of that hope," said Trustee Nainoa Thompson. "Today's judgement is one that will further unite the Hawaiian people and all those who care about Hawai`i."

Trustee Diane Plotts expressed gratitude for the overwhelming public support shown over the last few months. "The displays of support from the entire community -- from emails to petition signatures to participation in unity marches and celebrations of Hawaiian culture -- have encouraged us tremendously."

Kamehameha Schools supporters celebrated Judge Kay's ruling with KS trustees by chanting and singing the school song.

Along with his fellow trustees, Admiral Robert Kihune thanked those gathered at court for their unwavering and dedicated support. "I can imagine our beloved Pauahi smiling down on all of us today."

www.ksbe.edu/article.php?story=20050506110634462&mode=print

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This witness is expect to testify regarding his business, professional, personal, and political relationships with Myron Thompson, Colleen Wong, Nathan Aipa, Louanne Kam, Matt Tsukazaki, Earl Anzai, Lyn Anzai, Colbert Matsumoto, Judge Kevin Chang, Elisa Yadao, Hamilton McCubbin, John Waihee, Emmett B. Lewis, Miller & Chevalier, Clyde Mark, Rodney Park, Wally Chin, Peter Savio, The Nature Conservancy, Ben Benson, Linda Lingle, Daniel Akaka, Dan Inouye, Neal Abercrombie, Ed Case, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services, Gale Norton, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dirk Kempthorne, Dale Hall, Peter Young, The Ocean Conservancy; Dennis Heineman, Bishop Museum; Mark Polivka, Rocco Sansone, Marsh & McLennan, Chubb Group, Jeffrey Case, AIG, Aon Insurance, Goldman Sachs, John Goemans, Judge Alan Kay, Judge Michael Town, Judge Michael Seabright, Judge David Ezra, James B. Nicholson, Carol Muranaka, David C. Farmer, John Marshall, Esq., and other entities to be determined upon discovery.