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City agencies don’t have to wait for Santa for gifts, unlike the rest of us. So far this year, the city has accepted nearly $700,000 worth of gifts from nearly 200 donors.

Gifts to the city aren’t quite as exciting as shiny new iPads or boxes of chocolate like you might expect to find underneath a Christmas tree. A gift to the city can range from money and services to donation of equipment, travel expenses to conferences, event costs, and anything the city does not have to pay the full value of.

In 2013, donors included the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association, the Urban Land Institute, Honolulu Firefighters Foundation, Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank and various community associations.

Civil Beat

These rounded figures show the top five agencies that received gifts in Honolulu this year.

Rounding out the top ten:

• Department of Planning and Permitting: $18,000, 2.7 percent
• Department of Enterprise Services: $15,000, 2.3 percent
• Honolulu City Council: $13,000, 2 percent
• Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts: $11,000, 1.6 percent
• Department of Facility Maintenance: $10,000, 1.5 percent

In total, the city received $661,116 worth of gifts in 2013.

Top five gifts

These were the gifts with the highest value:

1. Niu Valley Community Association gave $77,359 to the Department of Parks and Recreation for playground equipment to be installed at Niu Valley Neighborhood Park.

2. Waikiki Business Improvement District Association gave $75,000 to the Honolulu Police Department to address “various illegal activities” on the public sidewalks of Waikiki.

3. The Urban Land Institute gave $49,825 to the Office of the Mayor , for Caldwell’s participation in the Rose Center for Public Leadership Program, attending seven meetings and study visits throughout 2013 and 2014.

4. Abigail K. Kawananakoa gave $30,000 to the Department of Parks and Recreation for all labor and materials necessary to provide a hot water heater for the Manoa pool at Manoa Valley District Park.

5. Honolulu Police Community Foundation gave $25,000 to the Honolulu Police Department to purchase 12 electric guns and related accessories for the department’s electric gun program.

How Government Gifts Work

The idea of gifting to city agencies can raise questions of coercion and unfairness; but, the city has guidelines that are meant to ensure that the business of gifts is ethical.

Lex Smith, former chair of the ethics commission, wrote in the , “Gifts to an agency made to further the proper goals, functions or business of the agency may be accepted as long as a reasonable person would not conclude that the gift was intended to reward or influence an officer or employee in carrying out his or her duty.”

Those in power positions, such as police, prosecutors and regulators, are not allowed to solicit gifts, along with anyone who has authority over any permits or applications to city agencies because contractors or donors may feel they “can’t say no.” Gifts cannot be accepted if the donor expects special treatment.

In addition, the gifts “may only be for the reasonable and necessary expenses associated with the expressed purpose of the donation.” In other words, if someone in the city is getting their travel expenses paid for a trip to a conference, and travels first class when coach air travel is available, that is an ethics violation and they may have to reimburse the donor of the additional expense.

Other Notable Donations

The Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association gave $10,000 to the Honolulu Police Department for the District 1 (which includes Ewa and Kapolei) and District 6 (Makiki to Kalihi) Community Policing Teams’ various programs, such as risk youth mentoring, gang prevention activities, senior safety conferences and law enforcement operations.

The Hawaii Metallic Silhouette Shooters Association gave $13,250 to the Department of Parks and Recreation for re-roofing the shooting range at the Koko Head Shooting Complex.

Rail~Volution gave $925 to the Office of Council Services for a staff member to attend the National Conference 2013, which was in Seattle in Oct. which puts on a conference every year to give “fresh ideas for both public and private sectors, engage your community with useful tools for advocates and elected officials, shape the future with new contacts and perspective and energize your career.”

Solarcity gave $5,000 to the Honolulu Fire Department for a photovoltaic demonstration system, for the purpose of safety training.

Councilman Ikaika Anderson gave $763 to the Honolulu City Council for “contingency expenses.”

Some were more fun; the North Shore Lifeguard Association gave the Department of Parks and Recreation a printer and a ping pong table, valued at $400.

The city’s gift log can be viewed

Civil Beat

This graph shows the breakdown by month of gifts for Honolulu.