Aloha. The Hawaii Republican Assembly is passing along serious warnings received from friends statewide to Republicans and conservatives in the Aloha State. Financial impropriety consumes Hawaii Republican Party.
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An Important Warning to all Republicans in Hawaii --

A lot of big questions are being raised by the scandal at Hawaii Republican Party headquarters, including this one:

ARE PARTY DONORS AND TICKET BUYERS BEING DELIBERATELY DUPED INTO BELIEVING THEY ARE PAYING OFF A MORTGAGE WHEN PARTY LEADERS HAVE REPORTEDLY ALREADY DIPPED INTO THOSE FUNDS FOR OTHER PURPOSES AND CLEARLY PLAN TO KEEP ‘REPURPOSING’ AND DIPPING INTO THOSE FUNDS INTO THE FUTURE??

One thing’s for sure, something is REALLY SUSPECT about the Hawaii Republican Party’s (HRP) fundraising tactics for its supposed "Capital Campaign";  so suspect, in fact, that party leaders and their telemarketers refuse to disclose multiple problems upfront to donors, ticket buyers and sponsors when calling and e-mailing them to solicit money.  Outright fraud might be at the heart of it . . .  the kind of fraud which might interest the whistleblower division of the State’s Attorney General.  Table buyers have been advised to seek refunds before it’s too late.


FALSE ADVERTISING ABOUT PAYING MORTGAGE

False advertising could be the least of the party’s problems in selling An Evening with Gerald “Jerry” Coffee and New Mexico Governor Martinez, a.k.a. ”Proud to be an American Dinner” for which tickets cost $200 per person.

You see, the upcoming event will be the party’s fourth major fundraiser to supposedly pay off the mortgage for its Honolulu headquarters on Kapiolani Blvd.  The explicit yet fraudulent promise made is that "All proceeds go toward the building fund to pay off the mortgage for the HRP Headquarters."

Well, it turns out that this claim is far, far from the truth.  Party leaders have no intention of reserving that money to pay the mortgage as they repeatedly and falsely promise.


SECRET PLANS TO ‘REPURPOSE’ MORTGAGE MONEY

In fact, the funds will definitely be spent on a huge variety of expenses totally unrelated to the payment of the headquarters mortgage.

Take a look at the secretly changed HRP rule which lets them plow through that 'mortgage money' and break their word by using it for anything at all without your consent or knowledge once they’ve got your money into their secretly administered coffers.

  Section 417(b) - Funds raised for the mortgage (the ‘capital campaign’) may be used for "other expenses as the State Committee may determine by majority vote.”  

This rule change -- advocated by the same party leaders who are now deceitfully selling tickets -- was adopted recently at HRP’s May 2015 state convention.  That’s quite some time before they knowingly decided to make repeated false promises that your ticket purchases would be spent only on the mortgage payments.  This secret rule enables Rohlfing, Liu, and Hellreich to easily divert your donations to the party’s slush fund -- which is neither for the mortgage, nor helping candidates, nor for advertising or anything else useful.  [More about what the $$ is really for is explained below.]  Manipulating ticket buyers by using manipulative, deceptive sales techniques and doublespeak is something you think Democrats, not Republicans, would do.

It gets even worse when you look at the total emasculation of the party’s State Committee comprised of 70+ member of party leaders statewide.  Now, according to those same party rules, merely a handful of party leader Miriam Hellreich’s friends on Oahu can authorize redirecting the mortgage monies to whatever they want.

  Section 302 - "Between meetings of the body, an executive committee has charge of all matters within the body's authority.”  

Practically speaking, party leaders and chief ticket sellers Miriam Hellreich and Fritz Rohlfing run the executive committee -- with Hellreich's own puppets fleshing out the remainder of that committee.  At a moment's notice, a quick and secret 'vote' of this committee right after this month’s “capital campaign” fundraiser for the mortgage can repurpose mortgage funds for anything else.  [The same kind of secret meeting of HRP’s executive committee which led to the outrageous awarding of $120,000 to hire Fritz Rohlfing’s inexperienced young female friend and traveling companion as the party’s new executive director . . . which you only know about because HIRA found out and told you.]

The situation is worse than you imagine.  Party leaders are not bound by their promise to use your money to pay the mortgage, no matter how you pay.  Even if you write “mortgage payment only” on your check, they can use your donations to funnel that money to favored political consultants or to travel expenses for jet-setting party officers.  They could even use that money to give a pay raise and a fat bonus to the already overpaid and supremely underqualified $120,000 friend of Rohlfing.

Not surprisingly, it appears that they've already been doing this ‘repurposing’ of mortgage funds for years.  The evidence strongly suggests they've already been tapping that fund, violating promises made to thousands of donors and party members, and lying for some time now; which is probably why they've fought so hard to prevent any type of audit.


FINANCIAL AUDITS NOW PROHIBITED BY PARTY LEADERS

Before looking at the evidence of tens of thousands of allegedly missing donor monies for the mortgage, take a long look at another rule change which party leaders pushed for and obtained just a few months ago.  In this global age of transparency and accountability, HRP leaders have decided to run in the exact opposite direction.

While making substantial changes to the party’s rules, Hellreich and Rohlfing eliminated the requirement for an independent audit of party finances and replaced that rule with a new one which prevents any audit of party accounts and spending from ever, ever happening again.  In fact, we now have the classic ‘fox guarding the hen house’ situation.

  Until the rule change, just prior to selling tickets for this upcoming Martinez fundraiser, Section 418 of the party rules used to require an annual audit which was due “no later than 90 days after the end of the fiscal year”  

Under the new rules, however, Section 418 concerning financial review has been completely gutted.  In fact, you won’t find the word “audit” written anywhere in the entire 27 pages of party regulations.  Fritz Rohlfing and Miriam Hellreich can now pick any three people they want to look over the party’s books and report back with a clean bill of health; using the tiny Rohlfing/Hellreich/Liu executive committee to rubber stamp the findings.  Indeed, it was explained at a recent party meeting that the new procedure will explicitly work this way:   

The party’s longtime paid accounting firm, which is part-owned by a previous treasurer of HRP and longtime Hellreich associate, Kathi Thomason, gets to look over her own books and declare her own books to be ‘just fine’.  This is the same Kathi Thomason who ran for party office on the slate with Jonah Kaauwai who, together with his officemate and Democrat consultant buddy Dylan Nonaka, created a mountain of debt which the party is still trying to pay off.  That’s the person and the company we’re trusting instead of conducting an audit.  Not coincidentally, Ms. Thomason is also the treasurer of the ‘capital campaign’ and the person who receives the checks and counts the money and pays the bills and does the accounting. Not surprisingly, Ms. Thomason has not joined the chorus of those who have been callling for an audit.

So far we have the bait and switch of  false advertising, the fraud of intent to spend mortgage monies elsewhere, and the dubious elimination of a financial audit in order to obliterate transparency.

Now let’s take a good look at what they’ve done with party funds raised specifically for the mortgage in the past.  In reviewing the funds raised thus far from previous 'capital campaign' for the mortgage events, tens of thousands of dollars appear to have vanished into thin air, even BEFORE the secretly changed rule was adopted by party leaders just a few short months ago . . . the very rule change which today’s party donors and ticket buyers are not being told about.


MORTGAGE FUNDS VANISHED INTO THIN AIR

Here’s where things get really dubious.  When HRP first launched its “Capital Campaign” to ‘pay off the mortgage’ in June 2011, it announced that the still unpaid mortgage for party headquarters was $171,000.  As everyone knows, the balance of a mortgage should get lower with each timely payment.  If you make a big payment, then the balance goes down by that much.  Simple.

HRP held its Lee Greenwood ‘capital campaign’ event on August 16, 2011.  Following that event, party leaders announced they had grossed $98,000 and netted $67,000 after expenses.  That would have reduced the remaining balance on the mortgage to $104,000.  Hawaii Reporter explained that “around 500 people paid at least $150 per ticket, and some paid as much as $2,500 to $5,000 in sponsorships.  Party leaders “hoped to raise $500,000 with this event.”  So after netting, $67,000, then the original $171,000 minus $67,000 equals $104,000 left on the mortgage.

So, with only $104,000 left to pay, HRP held a “Sidewalk Sale” at party headquarters.  Party supporters were asked to donate items of value which the party could sell for the benefit of paying off the mortgage.  According to Civil Beat, party leaders explicitly promised again that the money would not be directed anywhere except to paying the mortgage:   “All sales will go directly to our Building Fund.  It is time to follow up our successful Lee Greenwood Dinner/Concert and rebuild this fund in order to achieve our goal….retire our mortgage!”  Party leaders proudly sent a press release announcing that this effort had netted $5,000.

So, $104,000 minus $5,000 equals $99,000 left to pay off the mortgage.

This brings us to last year’s Pat Saiki Mortgage Fundraiser which again explicitly promised that “all proceeds, less expenses, be given to our HRP Building Fund to pay off the mortgage ”  The event, held on 30 January 2014, charged $175 per person and $10,000 for sponsor tables.  Former party chair David Chang happily reported that 300 people attended.  Party leaders reported that the net proceeds were $60,000.

So, $99,000 minus $60,000 equals $39,000 left to pay off the monthly mortgage of $1,476.

This is where it gets really interesting.

In July 2015 it was announced by party leaders that the remaining mortgage owed is $121,000.  NOT $39,000.  But $121,000.  That’s a discrepancy of $82,000.

A massive discrepancy we were probably NOT supposed to notice in the midst of the deliberate and sustained deception by party leaders.

You see, the last three mortgage events (Lee Greenwood + Sidewalk Sale + Pat Saiki) netted or raised a combined $132,000.  That’s nearly enough to fully pay off the $171,000 mortgage a full year ago, leaving just a mere $39,000 left to go -- considerably less than Rohlfing is paying his 'friend' as Executive Director.

Yet, if all funds previously raised EXPLICITLY for the mortgage were applied to the mortgage, then it appears that $82,000 has been pilfered from the ‘capital campaign’ mortgage fund.  Pilfered or, perhaps, ‘repurposed’ or ‘redirected’ or ‘dipped into’.

If so, then party leaders have been clearly raiding these funds donated by generous folks like you; then turning around and blowing that money on purposes OTHER than ‘paying down the mortgage’.

If true, then the “save our HQ” campaign is a total scam which deserves the attention of law enforcement.

Remember, Rohlfing and Hellreich and their telemarketers have already LIED to you and BROKEN THEIR PROMISES about the dedicated use of your money, again and again and again.  Moreover, they have LIED to you in the present day by omitting any mention of the secretly changed rules concerning diversion of funds and elimination of an audit and the missing funds while trying to sell you tickets to their BOGUS fundraiser.  This means that they are LYING to you about how Miriam Hellreich, Fritz Rohlfing and their tiny executive cabal which secretly runs HRP plan to burn through their de facto SLUSH FUND . . . which Jerry Coffee and Governor Martinez are either wittingly or unwittingly being used to fill with $200 tickets and $10,000 sponsors. Arguably, these two keynote speakers become legally culpable once they know the event is being sold using fraudulent marketing in concert with shady accounting practices.

So where has your money actually been going all this time?  Good question.  Tens of thousands of missing dollars from the ‘capital campaign’ to ‘pay off the mortgage’ is ample reason for all of us to stay home, including Jerry Coffee and Governor Martinez.  Clearly, that money hasn’t all been going to the mortgage, as promised, or win elections.


THIS IS HOW THE PARTY ACTUALLY PLANS TO SPEND YOUR MONEY

For the moment, forget about the unaccounted for money, the irregularities, the eliminated audit, and the tens of thousands of previously donated monies ‘for the mortgage’ which appears to have gone missing.  Going forward, the question is this:  Where will it get wasted in the future?  Recently, HRP leaders adopted a secret and unpublished budget which appears to contain the answers.

Hellreich and Rohlfing refused to actually hand out that budget to members of the emasculated HRP State Committee, opting only to show it on a screen at a secret, behind closed doors meeting.  Some HIRA members were there, and now, HIRA will tell you what HRP refuses to tell you:  Party leaders adopted a budget which provides ZERO $$ for direct candidate support and ZERO $$ for indirect candidate support (generic support for Republican policies and generic attacks on Democrats).

Just for fun, try calling party headquarters at 593-8180 and ask them to send you "HRP’s approved budget for 2015-16", including the amounts approved for advertising, direct candidate support, canvassing, voter registration, mailers, doorhangers, etc.  Please know this in advance: There isn’t such a plan.  Rohlfing and party leaders postponed even thinking about a plan, let alone approving one, until Christmas at the earliest . . . in clear violation of party rules to already have an approved plan in place by now.

Here’s the bad news:  Instead of going to the mortgage or to winning or even trying to win elections, it’s ALL going to overhead and past debt.  They are simply keeping the lights on.  That’s how bad things are with liberals and RINO’s in charge of Hawaii’s Republican Party.

Where will the money go?   NOT to help Republican candidates.  NOT to help the GOP’s branding problems in Hawaii.  NOT to the party’s messaging, voter registration, and voter identification.  NOT to help beat Democrats.  NOT for the Victory 2016 campaign.  And that means your favorite Republican challenger has an absolute minimal chance of winning in 2016.  Be it Charles Djou, Duke Aiona, Max Fowler, Bryan Jeremiah, Jaci Agustin, Richard Fale, Janet Grace or whomever.  They don't stand a chance when all party leaders care about is paying for overhead while playing shell games, perpetrating fraud, and using a bait and switch to maintain control of the increasingly useless party.

They do not care about growing the Party, they just want to go to the parties.

These manipulators invite us to patriotic themed events which pretend to help the Hawaii GOP get a foothold in Hawaii politics.  But while they tell us about their $1,476 monthly mortgage payment, they neglect to acknowledge that the party has chosen a headquarters location which requires a ridiculous monthly building maintenance charge (CAM) of nearly double the mortgage:  $2,685+ every month forever.  Add in the property taxes, the salaries, the unemployment insurance, the health insurance, the dental insurance, the workers comp insurance, the phones, the fax, the copiers, the printers, the toner, the office supplies and the rest, the party continues to blow every penny of its income on monthly overhead before it gets to further the cause of unseating Democrats . . . all in the name of paying astronomical costs for an overpriced office space with overcompensated help which hasn't brought us one step closer to a Republican majority in Hawaii.


IN CONCLUSION

Thanks to Hellreich and Rohlfing, the Hawaii Republican Party is on suicide watch.  New Mexico Governor Martinez is reportedly SHOCKED to learn that the Hawaii fundraiser for HRP that she is headlining has already wasted every penny of the projected net proceeds of $120,000 by hiring an unqualified friend of Fritz Rohlfing to warm a seat at party headquarters.  In addition, Governor Martinez and her gubernatorial AND campaign staffs are reportedly horrified that her name and likeness are being used to push a total LIE which utilizes fraud about where the money is going:  While party leaders shamelessly promote another feel-good “capital campaign” which promises one thing to ticket buyers and donors and delivers another, thanks to this scandal involving false advertising and outright fraud, Governor Martinez and her staff are reportedly not even sure at this point if the governor will still be travelling to Hawaii for this bait and switch 'slush fund' event.

HRP is a nonexistent organization.  Party leaders Hellreich and Rohlfing are engaged in an act of PURE FRAUD -- defrauding Republicans who have no idea that their money is actually spent helping Democrats to feel secure that they will stay in power for another sixty years.  They have destroyed HRP; keeping it weak so they can hold onto power indefinitely.

HRP leaders have said that NOT ONE PENNY of the money raised during 2015 and 2016 will be used for messaging or even campaigning -- they actually adopted a formal budget which proclaims as much.  Every cent will be used for office mortgage rent and overhead PERIOD.  Forget about educating voters, fighting on issues, or supporting candidates.

Time to wake up.  They're blowing money.  They're blowing time.  They're blowing yet another election.  We’ve been defrauded of our party with a massive bait and switch.  Boycott this fundraiser and send money directly to candidates instead.  Ticketbuyers and donors are advised to seek refunds in light of the evidence of fraud, deception, and doublespeak.

So when someone from party headquarters calls or writes you and says this . . .

  "All proceeds go toward the building fund to pay off the mortgage for the HRP Headquarters"  

. . . know that this sales pitch authorized by Hellreich and Rohlfing is a total lie.  You are being scammed.


 



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