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Mr. Yonamine — who has a sure renown as a result of his uncle Wally Yonamine was a well-known athlete — is a determine in native sports activities. In 2018, one yr after he was named varsity baseball coach at Pearl City High School, state lawmakers, a few of whom acquired marketing campaign contributions from his events, accredited $3 million in funding to transform the sphere from grass to synthetic turf.
As Mr. Yonamine spoke from the refurbished area at a gap ceremony in 2022, a Hawaiian priest sprinkled rainwater on house plate.
“Thank you to all who helped make our goals come true,” Mr. Yonamine stated.
This article was reported in partnership with Big Local News at Stanford University.
How the Numbers Were Calculated
The Times and Civil Beat examined tons of of hundreds of marketing campaign contributions and greater than 70,000 state contracts to attract connections between distributors and their donations to political races. The evaluation revealed that just about 20 % of all marketing campaign contributions since 2006 have come from individuals tied to firms doing enterprise with the state and native governments.
This quantity is probably going an underestimate as a result of the info is incomplete. Records had been obtained from the Hawaii Awards & Notices Data System, which tracks who received state contracts, however a 2021 audit discovered that solely 40 % of all state contracts awarded that yr had been posted. It’s not clear if the issue applies to different years.
Reporters requested and reviewed examine registers to confirm the whole funds to distributors from departments. Some departments didn’t reply to public data requests, together with these with massive numbers of high-value contracts, such because the Education and Transportation Departments.
The gaps in state and county contracting information and examine registers made it tough to find out simply how a lot cash distributors truly acquired. Published quantities had been confirmed with supply paperwork or contracting departments.
Contractors had been matched towards the names of firms, their executives and staff in a database of marketing campaign contributions maintained by the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission. Donations from spouses and kinfolk of contractor executives had been additionally included within the depend when attainable. Spouses and kinfolk had been decided based mostly on individuals who shared the identical final identify and tackle as the principle contributor. In some circumstances spouses had been collectively listed as contributors.
The evaluation centered on distributors who present authorized, consulting, engineering and building providers. Contracts and contributions for subsidiaries had been attributed to their mum or dad firms. Universities and different public businesses with authorities contracts had been excluded from the evaluation. Organizations that will produce other lobbying pursuits — such because the Hawaii Association of Realtors — had been additionally excluded.
Contributions made at occasions hosted by Mr. Yonamine had been recognized by looking for all contributions made to collaborating candidates inside one week of the events. The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission requires that contributions be deposited inside seven days of receipt.
