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272 LAND AND POWER IN HAWAII 8/Hawaii:Subdividing Lava Fields 273 Sen.John T. Ushijima; former Supervisor Richard M.Jitchaku, who was Regulatory Agencies. In 1969 Ariyoshi was the attorney for the construe- also an aide to Ushijima; the chief of the State Department of Taxation for tion of the Waikiki Gateway Hotel, one of whose developers was Rodney the Big Island,Sanford Y.Yanagi; Honolulu Police Commissioner William • Inaba. In 1981 Norman Inaba on behalf of Milolii Syndicate contributed C.H. Chung,whose brother was the chief fundraiser for Honolulu Mayor $500 to Ariyoshi's re-election campaign. - Frank E Fasi;the number two man in the county corporation counsel office, Norman Inaba was thus solidly part of Hawaii's power structure in the George S.Yuda;and District Court Magistrate Roy K.Nakamoto. Democratic years. He was known and trusted, someone to be accommo- Inaba also invested in real estate through his Great-Hawaiian Realty with dated. His dealings with government were normally smooth. For example, • Republican Richard Henderson's Realty Investment Co.,to form Leilani Es- when in 1972 he filed a subdivision registration statement for an increment tates Inc. of Royal Gardens,a mid-level official in the State Department of Regulatory Inaba's family was deeply involved in government. One brother,Yoshio, Agencies wrote in an intra-office memo: "Norman Inaba has done a good was chief of the Hawaii County Department of Public Works 1953-1963. job of filing papers and gave us no problem all these years.This new incre- Goro,another brother,was Kona District representative on the State Land ment is like the previous ones. (I haven't seen any documents, but they Use Commission 1963-1973. A third brother, Minoru, an educator for should be in order.) They just filed yesterday. But can you give a fast look. much of his adult life, served in the State House 1969-1972, then again Let's try to accommodate them.Let's give them the approval as of today."41 1975–1980. A fourth brother, Albert, was a public school principal, and a civic and political leader on Molokai for nearly 30 years. * * * At times the brothers worked together.After Yoshio,the engineer,retired from government,he did consultancy work for Norman.Minoru,after retir- Without question there was money for Big Island developers in specula- ing from the Department of Education but while he was in the Legislature, tive subdivisions. worked for one of Norman's development company affiliates.Albert,the pub- Norman Inaba's Royal Gardens was 1,807 acres, bought in 1961 from lic school principal, invested in the Royal Gardens hui. Land Use Commis- Bishop Trust Co. for$200,000, as determined from the tax he paid at the sioner Goro was once sold a lot in Milolii at a low price—$500—when buyers time of conveyance. In a prospectus Inaba gave to potential hui investors in of comparable lots were paying several thousand. 1961, he estimated that total costs to subdivide and sell would be At times the Inabas' public and private activities overlapped. Yoshio $940,000.92 Of the approximately 1,500 lots, 90% were sold by the mid- twice 1959-1960 was found to be in conflict-of-interest situations for draw- 1980s, according to a realtor associated with the project. The realtor also ing up subdivision plans as a private engineer that he, then approved as said that prices ranged from$1,000 in the early 1960s to$16,000 in the late county engineer. Goro three times as a land use commissioner,once in 1969 1970s and early 1980s. He believed that an average price was probably and twice in 1971, voted to approve redistricting applications in which $12,000,meaning a gross return of something like$16.2 million.Inaba's net Yoshio was involved as a private engineer. In one case Goro made a disclo- was never made public, though presumably it was substantial, since there sure of interest,in the other two he did not. (In all probability Goro's votes were so few site improvement costs. did not violate the state ethics law. In general to be in conflict a commis- As mentioned, land for the Milolii Beach Lots Subdivision cost Inaba sioner had to vote on matters directly affecting his or her own financial about$137,000 in.1960. Most of the 1,000 lots, only minimally developed, interests,or those of a spouse or dependent child.) - were sold by the end of the 1960s, for a gross return of an estimated $3.5 The Inaba family,from about the time of statehood,had a close working . ' million. relationship with George Ariyoshi,a rising Democratic politician,a legisla- As for buyers.of individual lots, probably the great majority showed a tor 1955-1970,and thereafter lieutenant governor and a three-term gover- paper gain. On the Big Island most first buyers were able to resell if they nor.Ariyoshi in 1960 represented Norman Inaba before the State Board of wanted to,by contrast with some speculative subdivisions on the mainland Agriculture and Forestry on a forest reserve matter in connection with where first buyers got stuck. On the other hand, in later years the rate of Inaba's Hilolani Acres (now Kaumana City). In 1963-1964, as mentioned, appreciation was less(in some cases considerably less)than the rate on prop- Ariyoshi drafted for Norman the partnership registration statements for erties with an immediate and actual use value as well as just an investment or Royal Gardens and Milolii Syndicate.Norman's son Rodney worked for Ari- speculative value—for example a house and lot in Oahu's Manoa Valley. yoshi in the Legislature 1966-1967,first as a committee clerk and then as a But if there was price appreciation, as there was on residential property research assistant.About this time Ariyoshi's law firm handled for Rodney throughout Hawaii,still, in the matter of actual construction on individual the registration of Great Hawaiian Realty Inc.with the State Department of lots,a strange picture emerged: