Hawaii State Government vs Citizens

HB-1979
Relating to Hawaii State employee overpayment statute of limitations. How the Hawaii State Dept. of the Attorney General violates U.S. citizens civil rights.

Ken Austin, DCSW

The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye
United States Senate
Suite 722, Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510 -1102

Monday, February 04, 2008

Dear Senator Inouye,

Many thanks for the letter of 02/01/08, written on your behalf by Aaron G. Leong, Legislative Assistant, received by me on Saturday, 02/02/08 in response to my request for your assistance in the matter of an alleged wage overpayment claim by the Hawaii Department of Public Safety (PSD).
I have enclosed a copy of my thank you letter to Senator Daniel K. Akaka, written by me and sent to him on Thursday, January 17, 2008. This letter documents the misrepresentation that Mr. Doi of HGEA apparently provided to Director Clayton A. Frank of PSD. The copy of the letter from Governor Lingle to you dated January 16, 2008 enclosed by Mr. Leong with his letter to me is simply a cut and paste of the letter that Clayton Frank sent to Senator Akaka on January 7, 2008. As you can see, Mr. Clifford Asato, PSD Fiscal Officer, told me in a phone conversation from 2:50 -- 3:05 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2008 that he was never asked by Robert Doi of HGEA for a copy of a cancelled check, or EFT Routing document to actually prove that I was paid the alleged amount. He said that he could easily provide such proof and would do so ASAP.
True to his word, on January 25, 2008, Mr. Asato mailed me a notarized certificate copy executed on January 22, 2008 of the original treasury warrant, issued August 19, 1999, which I received on Saturday, January 26, 2008 (copies enclosed). Thus ended my quest for proof of the overpayment alleged by PSD that I had sought through HGEA's Robert Doi in an authorization letter written and sent to him on June 13, 2007 (copy enclosed). Mr. Doi, rather than seek the proof I requested, chose to tell me that PSD could not provide such documentation and insisted that payroll documents and overpayment calculations that they did provide were proof of payment, which they are not! This overpayment occurred 08/19/99 and my first notice of it came on Wednesday, 05/09/07 in a phone call made to the Hi Dept of Taxation to inquire about my Hawaii State Income Tax Refund Check and was told that the Attorney General's Office had "set off" my check 8 years, 7 months and 19 days after the over-payment was made. I did not have records of having received the payment claimed.
All of the above aside, my real objection to the entire demeaning process to which I have been subjected is the lack of due process. I was never given a written notice of overpayment, until after I complained about not receiving my Hawaii State Tax Refund check for 2006. My refund check was set aside without notice. When I inquired about it I was treated as the perpetrator of the overpayment and threatened with legal proceedings. I became the subject of the bureaucratic game of "blame the Victim" for having the audacity to ask for due process and proof of overpayment. I have learned from a reliable and trustworthy source that the entire State Payroll System is rife with over and under payment errors due to the fact that the State of Hawaii is using an outdated payroll system running on keypunch input and a cobalt operating system. I was told that nearly all of these payment errors in are created by this antiquated system that was installed in the early 70's. I learned that in the mid 90's Kronos, Inc.®, a mainland payroll consultant to state governments, contracted to update this Hawaii Payroll System and backed out of the contract because of the convoluted and antiquated rules governing the State's Payroll. It's more fun to chase employees for overpayments than it is to fix a broken system and you don't have to do any hard work, not to speak of the pleasure derived in beating up the State's public employees. I believe this is a civil rights issue wherein the State of Hawaii is violating its citizen's rights to "due process." The Hawaii State Department of the Attorney General is a key player in this violation.
Again, I extend my sincere thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Mahalo,


Ken Austin, DCSW
ka: Enclosures,
C: File

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Honolulu
• state
• government
• violations
• civil
• rights

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