Ex-University of Hawaii president spends big ‘for kids’

by Malia Zimmerman, Watchdog.org, August 19, 2013

HONOLULU – Evan Dobelle, the former University of Hawaii president who  was run out of Hawaii in 2004 after university regents had enough of his exorbitant credit card bills and extravagant spending seems to be at it again.

Dobelle, 68, is under scrutiny again for his lavish spending atWestfield State University in Westfield, Mass., where he’s been president since 2007.

The Massachusetts Inspector General and the Board of Trustees of Westfield State University are auditing Dobelle’s travel costs after faculty members raised questions about the appropriateness of his expenditures.

Dobelle had a tumultuous relationship with university officials and lawmakers over spending, redirecting money, travel and more. He even testifying before the Legislature when he failed to bring in the big buck for a medical school.

The final straw that led to Dobelle’s ouster? Regents learned Dobelle redirected $125,000 in funds from two private donors to the University of Hawaii Foundation for his protocol fund, much to the outrage of the donors. He also used state time, resources and personnel to lobby five universities for jobs overseas, among other things.

On June 15, 2004, regents fired Dobelle for cause on the basis of “moral turpitude.” After reviewing the evidence against Dobelle, his lawyers settled for just a little more than $1 million.

The Boston Globe reports that in 2008, Dobelle spent “$8,000 for a four-night stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok; $883 from the upscale clothing store Louis Boston; $10,000 for tickets to shows at Tanglewood; more than $4,000 for limousine rides” and a total of $200,000 in credit card charges to the foundation and racked up more charges on his executive assistant’s university credit card.

Dobelle defended himself in a recent statement to the Boston Globe: “When I spend money, that’s what I’m doing. I do things for kids.”

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