State tourism agency under fire in audit - News

A state audit faults the embattled Hawaii Tourism Authority for failing to have a clear tourism plan, mismanaging contracts and creating programs without considering their effectiveness.

[islander]

Shut it down already! The HTA should have been dissolved last year when they gave a $300,000 golden handshake to Rex Johnson after he was fired for distributing porn, sexist and racist emails.

[aiea59]

All this, and then we paid Rex Johnson to leave.....so this is where our tax dollars go!!

[goodjob]

where do i apply ?

[Rex Johnson]

Eh no bodda me eh! I gotta read my emails first!

[Rex Johnson]

Ms. Higa, we've already formulated a direct link to southeast asia and soon will have a detailed plan on how to get Israelis and Hamas to visit our islands simultaneously. It isn't? Where is Israel? Mideast? Not? Is the Hamas is the Mideast too. They don't? Not? Should we bring them over separately? They won't? Why? What war? Really?

What? I've been fired? Not?

[Bernard]

In Singapore a government employee who breeches the public trust is subject to capital punishment.

[Cat Manapua]

I've been ranting on the HTA for months and months. Now even the State says these dinosaurs are ineffective.

After spending $270 million tax dollars in 5 years:

- caught off guard by tourism collapse
- no new marketing plan in 5 years
- Sexy Rexy, enough said
- useless convention center
- abuse of budgets on greasing tourism insiders
- still no CEO 6 months post-scandal
- factionalism at Board level

It does not even have a mechanism to measure its performance in the use of tax dollars! What a disgrace. Get rid of this abomination.

[Big J-Hawaii Kai]

I totally agree with all the input thusfar. One recommendation though. If you can take the time to comment on these various issues, please take the time to write a quick e-mail to your City Council representative. I doubt seriously if either our State legislators or our City Council members even read these comments. Why? The truth hurts!

[Ben]

I thought those who wanted to dump Johnson said once he's gone, tourists would flock to Hawaii knowing that a sexist pig was no longer running HTA.

Wha' happened?

[Von in Aiea]

I have more or less been keeping up with the history of HTA for many years now and I came to the conclusion that this has to be some kind of weird sting operation or something because the stories just keep coming in. Like many here where do I apply?

HTA must be a typographical error. A "T" was put in by mistake. It should read instead; Ha, Ha, Ha.

[Von in Aiea]

Dave wrote:

yea we need more houle come to hawaii and then buy them famalies in mainland houses with state money.

I'm still waiting.

[kapaa]

our government leaders hard at work

[Local Investor]

Uh...some of these "potentially" extravagant expenses are pretty standard stuff when you're trying to attract major businesses and industries to your city for large conventions. Limousines don't cost much more than taxis -- less if there's waiting time involved. And I can easily imagine sending off a high-potential client with an Ipod loaded with Iz and Willie and Amy, for them to listen to on their flight home to Chicago. Sadly, this kind of minutiae completely misses the mark. We're still wasting too HTA money on big legacy projects that roll on year after year without adequate review, owing to long-term relationships with key legislators, industry leaders, etc. We need fewer political cronies and lifetime bureaucrats, and more industry and marketing professionals who really know their stuff, onto the HTA board and staff.

[local]

The HTA is an unproductive branch the state should have never opened. Talk about negative cash flow. They should just leave it the production agencys to do its job. It will be way cheaper than what the HTA can produce.

[Tsarbomba]

Big J-Hawaii Kai wrote:

I totally agree with all the input thusfar. One recommendation though. If you can take the time to comment on these various issues, please take the time to write a quick e-mail to your City Council representative. I doubt seriously if either our State legislators or our City Council members even read these comments. Why? The truth hurts!

Better yet, write to DA to press charges for corruption.

[Keani]

Let tourist operations do their own marketing. Abolish the HTA. Forget about rail. Lower our taxes already. Hawaii taxpayers deserve a break for a change.

[Cat Manapua]

Ben wrote:

I thought those who wanted to dump Johnson said once he's gone, tourists would flock to Hawaii knowing that a sexist pig was no longer running HTA.
Wha' happened?

Actually, Ben, nobody ever said that. Nobody. Ever.

What they said was that Sexy Rexy was ineffective, a political appointee without the chops to do the job, who got caught "redhanded" (hehehe) with porn and racism in his communications and who was given a couple of hundreds of thousands of bucks to go away.

That's what they said, Ben. Now you've been schooled and understand the situation.

[North Shore Girl]

Surfing is Hawaii's greatest cultural export - most of my surfing students say learning to surf is the highlight of their vacation. The Triple Crown of Surfing brings in more "fee" publicity world wide then any other event. Hawaii also has the best weather in the world. Marketing Hawaii should be kept simple..Sun, Sand and Surf combined with the Aloha spirit....

[John Kamaka]

islander wrote:

Shut it down already! The HTA should have been dissolved last year when they gave a $300,000 golden handshake to Rex Johnson after he was fired for distributing porn, sexist and racist emails.

Now the State has enough evidence to fire all of them for "just cause", no administrative leave with pay, no RETIREMENT with pay, certainly NO SEVERANCE PAY PACKAGE as what that disgraced Rex Johnson got $$$$ hundreds of thousands of TAXPAYERS money down the sewer pipes and into his pocket!

The governor should do the firing ASAP and not wait for our spineless legislatures to act.

[What]

Cat Manapua wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, Ben, nobody ever said that. Nobody. Ever.
What they said was that Sexy Rexy was ineffective, a political appointee without the chops to do the job, who got caught "redhanded" (hehehe) with porn and racism in his communications and who was given a couple of hundreds of thousands of bucks to go away.
That's what they said, Ben. Now you've been schooled and understand the situation.

Actually I DID say that. Boy was I wrong. But then so are you. Does to two Wongs make a Wright? Or did the Wright brothers fly a kite before the Wongs?