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 12 months after he was named varsity baseball coach at Pearl Metropolis Excessive Faculty, state lawmakers, a few of whom acquired marketing campaign contributions from his events, permitted $3 million in funding to transform the sector from grass to synthetic turf.
As Mr. Yonamine spoke from the refurbished discipline at a gap ceremony in 2022, a Hawaiian priest sprinkled rainwater on residence plate.
“Thanks to all who helped make our goals come true,” Mr. Yonamine mentioned.
This text was reported in partnership with Huge Native Information at Stanford College.
How the Numbers Have been Calculated
The Occasions and Civil Beat examined tons of of 1000’s 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 almost 20 % of all marketing campaign contributions since 2006 have come from folks tied to corporations doing enterprise with the state and native governments.
This quantity is probably going an underestimate as a result of the information is incomplete. Data have been obtained from the Hawaii Awards & Notices Information System, which tracks who gained state contracts, however a 2021 audit discovered that solely 40 % of all state contracts awarded that 12 months have been posted. It’s not clear if the issue applies to different years.
Reporters requested and reviewed examine registers to confirm the full funds to distributors from departments. Some departments didn’t reply to public information requests, together with these with massive numbers of high-value contracts, such because the Training and Transportation Departments.
The gaps in state and county contracting knowledge and examine registers made it troublesome to find out simply how a lot cash distributors truly acquired. Revealed quantities have been confirmed with supply paperwork or contracting departments.
Contractors have been matched towards the names of corporations, their executives and staff in a database of marketing campaign contributions maintained by the Hawaii Marketing campaign Spending Fee. Donations from spouses and kin of contractor executives have been additionally included within the rely when attainable. Spouses and kin have been decided based mostly on individuals who shared the identical final title and deal with as the primary contributor. In some circumstances spouses have been collectively listed as contributors.
The evaluation centered on distributors who present authorized, consulting, engineering and development companies. Contracts and contributions for subsidiaries have been attributed to their father or mother corporations. Universities and different public businesses with authorities contracts have been excluded from the evaluation. Organizations which will produce other lobbying pursuits — such because the Hawaii Affiliation of Realtors — have been additionally excluded.
Contributions made at occasions hosted by Mr. Yonamine have been recognized by looking for all contributions made to collaborating candidates inside one week of the events. The Hawaii Marketing campaign Spending Fee requires that contributions be deposited inside seven days of receipt.