Subject: New Alert & ITT Supports Hawaii Civil Rights - Pulls out of Covert Council
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 17:46:31 -0400 (EDT)

Aloha Folks,

Our community has a lot of communication connections that really matter.  And
they are ways to bring the right information to bear on those who need to
know.

Enclosed in this alert is:

1.  Response from ITT Sheraton cancelling their membership in the so-called
Hawaii Business Health Council as a response to a review of their membership
in this group after the group's taking a position to demand Governor Cayetano
to veto the RB legislation. This request for review was brought to ITT
Sheraton by a recipient of our original alert request!!!!

2.  The second is a copy of the text sent by GLEA Foundation to the Chairman
of Bank of Hawaii who helped hid the members who were behind the veto
request: particularly one business that is in major conflict of interest with
their board member Jack Hoag who is on the board of First Hawaiian Bank
(former CEO), is major leader of the Mormon church in Hawaii, and leader
founder of the Mormon group called Hawaii's Future Today anti-Gay marriage
organization.

3.  This is the original alert message (that has obviously begun to pay off)
with additional contact information for those who want to help pursue
corrective actions.

#1.  ITT Sheraton notification of cancellation of membership in the so-called
Hawaii Business Health Council - sent to participant in our alert network -
Mahalo

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 17:59:40 -0400
(Dolores M. Sanchez) Vice President, ITT Sheraton Corp.
Director of Media Relations
Subject: Re[2]: ITT Sheraton, Human rights violations

     Again, thank you for your letter to us.  I spoke with my colleagues in 
     Hawaii, and we thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
     
     ITT Sheraton's Hawaii region recently joined the Hawaii Business 
     Health Council, an organization we understood to invite discussion 
     about employee/employer healthcare matters.  ITT Sheraton's Hawaii 
     Region cancelled its membership today, effective immediately.
     
     ITT Sheraton's Hawaii Region: 1) was unaware of the letter to the 
     Governor of Hawaii or the organization's position regarding reciprocal 
     benefits and the same-sex marriage legislation, 2) was not advised or 
     consulted on the matter addressed in the letter, 3) has not seen the 
     letter, 4) contacted the organization and withdrew its membership, 
     effective today, and 5) requested that ITT Sheraton's name not be 
     represented as a member or in support of the organization's position 
     on the subject.
     
As noted in my previous letter to you, ITT Sheraton Corporation, by policy
and 
practice, has always pursued a policy of affirmative action and equal 
opportunity, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national
origin,
sexual orientation, physical or mental disability or status as a disabled or 
Vietnam era veteran.  I can assure you that the company maintains that policy

and practice and will do so in the future, both in terms of its employees and
in
terms of its customers, partners, vendors and hotel owners.
     
ITT Sheraton is committed to supporting and endorsing diversity and has in
place
a Diversity Management Task Force, accountable directly to Dan Weadock, ITT 
Sheraton's President and Chief Executive Officer, and to Rob Brokaw, ITT 
Sheraton's Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources.

We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, and we hope that you 
recognize our swift and sure action as evidence that we, indeed, support 
diversity and take it very seriously.  
     
We also hope that you allow your SCI membership to continue to bring you the 
benefits of earning and redeeming travel faster than any competitive program,

while enjoying stays at ITT Sheraton's 427 hotels and resorts in 62
countries.
     
If I can answer any questions for you, feel free to contact me again.  If you

wish to call me rather than write, my phone number is 617/367-5481 in Boston,

Massachusetts.  

Sincerely,
     
Dolores Sanchez
Vice President, ITT Sheraton Corp.
Director of Media Relations
     
*************
#2 - Letter from GLEA Foundation to Bank of Hawaii Chairman, Richard Dahl

June 10, 1997

Mr. Richard Dahl
Chairman, Bank of Hawaii
FAX:  (808) 521-7602

Dear Mr. Dahl:

	It is now June the 10, 1997, six days since I contacted your office to
request information regarding Bank of Hawaii's participation in the so-called
"Hawaii Business Health Council," its mission statement, its letter to
Governor Cayetano requesting a veto of health-related benefits of employees
and their reciprocal beneficiaries, and a list of participating businesses in
this council.

	I have not heard a response to that request from you or anyone affiliated
with Bank of Hawaii.  

	I am surprised that you are in support of the hiding of organizational
relationships of your bank with other business institutions under the heading
"business health" to promote a veto of a bill that would extend quality
health care to a segment of Hawaii's citizenry,  complete opposition to the
mission statement.

	Bank of Hawaii executives presented numerous media interviews regarding this
demand for a veto without being willing to have your actions and the members'
actions scrutinized by the public and those in the legislative process.  I
believe this community finds your actions deplorable and unethical at a
minimum.

	Since there is no sense of decency to your actions other than going public
without public scrutiny of the member businesses it seems that your actions
are of the most deceptive type and unbefitting ethical business practices.
 This is additionally true of the other member businesses that we have since
identified and who are identified herein: GTE Hawaiian Tel, BHP Hawaii,
Hawaii National Bank, Hawaiian Tug & Barge, Corp., Hawaiian Electric Co.,
Hotel, Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., Liberty House, Liberty
House,	Hilton Hawaiian Village - Hilton Hotels, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts,
ITT Sheraton Hotels, Pacific Guardian Life, Kamehameha Schools, Bishop
Estate, Servco Pacific Inc., Alexander & Baldwin, Theo H Davis & Co, Ltd.,
American Linen, Times Super Market, Ltd., American Savings Bank, Young
Brothers, Ltd., American International, AMFAC/JMB Hawaii Inc., Bank of
America, Bank of Hawaii, C Brewer & Co, Ltd, Castle & Cooke, City Bank,
International Savings and Loan, Crazy Shirts, Inc., Duty Free Shoppers
Ltd,The Estate of James Campbell, and First Hawaiian Bank.

	Since my first contacting your office for the requested information,
including asking you to review Bank of Hawaii's position on the request for a
veto, I have individually contacted several of the legislators who were
involved with the legislation to find out that they had never heard of this
council.  And that when they met with several representatives of this council
that they were not made aware of the member businesses.  Since at least one
of these businesses has major a conflict of interest with its leadership and
leadership of the Mormon church and stated founder and leader of Hawaii's
Future Today, a major public antagonists of equal rights for Gay men and
women, it becomes important to all who are watching this legislation to know
that Bank of Hawaii help to hide that businesses involvement and surprising
last minute challenge to a measure that has been visible in this year's
legislative session since January.  Surprisingly none of these member
businesses had made any such challenges while it was within the legislature.

	At this point, I am now requesting copies of the minutes of the meetings of
the Hawaii Business Health Council during this past calendar year.  I believe
that the information contained in the actions and deliberations of this group
would be of great interest to the people of Hawaii and in particular to the
people who would lost the rights to quality health care that this group is
opposing.  I hope you will see the merit in forwarding copies of these
minutes to me at your earliest convenience.

				Sincerely,
				William E. Woods, MPH
				Executive Director

#3.
Aloha Folks,

This is an information and alert.  Perhaps you would like to know and help?

Last week the headline of the Honolulu Advertiser screamed that a major
business concern (a coalition of 30 businesses) had sent a letter to Governor
Cayetano requesting that he veto HB118 (Reciprocal Beneficiaries) [domestic
partnership everywhere else in the world.]

The group called itself the "Hawaii Business Health Council (HBHC) " headed
by its president Duane D. Feekin, Director of Human Resources for Bank of
Hawaii (Hawaii's largest bank).

As a public health professional and a lobbyist for more than 25 years in
Hawaii I had never heard of this group.  I first contacted the Hawaii Chamber
of Commerce who had never heard of this group either.  I then contacted Small
Business Hawaii, who's Executive Director (and also Senator) Sam  a stated he
had never heard of this group either.

Since the group was not listed with these two business groups and with
telephone directory, I contacted the author of the article who told me the
job title of Mr. Feekin  (808) 537-8822) and his location in the headquarters
of Bank of Hawaii.  I then left messages and got a return call from him about
two hours later.  

1.  He refused to tell me or give me a list of members of the "Council" that
had sent the letter to the governor.

2.  He refused to read or give me a copy of the letter he sent to the
governor although he referred to it in this article and subsequent ones in
Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Pacific Business News.

3.  He stated the mission of the "Council" was "to promote quality health
care for all."

I was emphatic in requesting that he contact the council and request they
release the names of their members and a copy of the letter.  He said he
would be meeting with them in the afternoon and would get back to me if they
agreed to the request.  I have not received a follow up call on this matter
from him, his office, or other council members.

I then contacted the Chairman of Bank of Hawaii, Mr. Richard Dahl at (808)
537-8360 and conveyed the same requests plus an added one to request that
Bank of Hawaii review its participation in this council and to retract its
support for the veto contained in their recommendation to the governor.  I
based this request to retract their support for that position because the
stated mission of the council was purported to be to increase the quality of
health care for all which was directly opposite to the request for a veto.
 The measure would increase health care coverage for many individuals
currently not eligible for health care.

I did not receive any call back from Mr. Dahl's office either.

However, I did get a rather irate call from Ms. Linda Chin, Bank of Hawaii
Corporate Communications Manager (808) 537-8658 that was really peeved that I
did not contact her instead of other BOH personnel (I am sure she meant Mr.
Dahl). I made the same requests of her and also have not received any other
communications from her.

One of my first steps was also to contact Governor Cayetano's office to
request a copy of the letter that had been referred to in the article.  I
asked also if it included a list of participating businesses in the council.

About an hour later the letter was located in one of the staff's offices and
Faxed to me (GLEA Foundation).

The thirty businesses are as follows:

GTE Hawaiian Tel						

BHP Hawaii

Hawaii National Bank					

Hawaiian Tug & Barge, Corp.

Hawaiian Electric Co					

Ilikai Hotel

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.			

Liberty House
P.O. Box 2690
Honolulu, HI 96845
E-mail feedback to:
[email-masked]
Telephone Numbers: 
General (Voice)
(808) 941-2345 U.S. & International
Catalog Service Toll Free (Voice)
(800) 654-9970 U.S. Only
Catalog Service Toll Free (Fax)
(800) 592-4067 U.S. Only

Hilton Hawaiian Village - Hilton Hotels
E-mail feedback from:
http://www.hilton.com/feedback/contactus.html
The Hilton Customer Service Center fax line:  1-972-788-1818
Hilton Hawaiian Village
2005 Kalia Road
Honolulu, HI 96815
Tel: 808/949-4321
Fax: 808/947-7898	
			
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts - Outrigger Hotels
2375 Kuhio Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815-2939, (808) 921-6600 
E-mail feedback from:
http://www.outrigger.com/guest.html
Phone/fax:
24 Hour Toll-Free (US & Canada) 1-800-								
OUTRIGGER (688-7444)
24 Hour Toll-Free Fax (US & Canada): 1-800-622-	4852

ITT Sheraton Hotels
E-mail feedback from:
http://www.sheraton.com/sheraton/html/feedback/fee_emai.html
Media contacts:
[email-masked]

Pacific Guardian Life

Kamehameha Schools, Bishop Estate			

Servco Pacific Inc.

Alexander & Baldwin					

Theo H Davis & Co, Ltd.

American Linen						      

Times Super Market, Ltd.

American Savings Bank					

Young Brothers, Ltd.

American International

AMFAC/JMB Hawaii Inc.

Bank of America

Bank of Hawaii

C Brewer & Co, Ltd

Castle & Cooke

City Bank, International Savings and Loan

Crazy Shirts, Inc.

Duty Free Shoppers Ltd

The Estate of James Campbell

First Hawaiian Bank

It was not at all surprising that First Hawaian Bank was participating in
this group to promote the VETO.  Jack Hoag, First Hawaiian's previous CEO and
current Board member, is the founder and driving force behind the Mormon
anti-Gay marriage attack group, Hawaii's Future Today.

The body of the letter is as follows:

A letter from Duane D Feekin to Ben Cayetano (all grammar and punctuation as
in the letter)-

	The Hawaii Legislature dealt with many complex and emotional issues
throughout the 1997 Session.  With the very best of intentions and in a
spirit of compromise, many issues have been addressed and forwarded to your
office for action.  This letter from the Hawaii Business Health Council
(HBHC) is to recommend your veto on House Bill 118 relating to unmarried
couples.  The HBHC is a group of major Hawaii-based employers whose mission
is to ensure both quality and efficiency in the delivery of healthcare within
our state.  We have a very positive relationship with all healthcare
providers and insurers and work as a partner with these entities in
accomplishing our mission.

	We seek your veto on House Bill 118 for three specific reasons:  First, the
bill appears seriously flawed in the language and will create much confusion
and mistrust within our communities.  Second, the Bill becomes effective July
1, 1997 which does not allow for adequate research to fully understand the
impact on the many sectors which make up the Hawaii community.  And third,
the full financial impact of this Bill has yet to be determined.  This Bill
may expose the state's Treasury to serious negative impact during a period of
time when you are attempting to manage a difficult financial situation.

	Governor Cayetano, it is not often that the HBHC takes a position on a
legislative issue, and we regret that you have been placed in the position
which may require your veto.  We sincerely believe that when you examine the
facts, you will agree that a veto is the appropriate action for House Bill
118.  Thank you for your consideration.

						Sincerely,

						Duane D. Feekin
						President

I believe without exception all of these businesses maintain active
professional lobbying forces that were well aware of this bill from the first
week of the legislative session and its intention to cover any two people who
could not otherwise marry.

To wait until after there are no more hearings or public forums to promote
veto of the bill because it might cause financial problems, but they have no
data to suspect this, demonstrates a powerful attack with little recourse for
those who support it.

I am encouraging everyone in Hawaii to write Governor Cayetano and to
demonstrate support for HB118 and to challenge the position of this council
to have it vetoed.  His address is:  Governor Benjamin Cayetano, Hawaii State
Capitol, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

I encourage any and all of you to contact the Bank of Hawaii and the other
businesses listed an challenge their position in light of their mission to
promote quality health care for all.

We have not had time to gather all the contact numbers for most of the
businesses, but hope to add that information in future posts.  If you have
contact information, please send copy of it to us.  Also please send copy of
any communication related to this alert to us for our archives . . . and to
help know what effect we are having.

Do good,

Bill Woods, MPH
Hawaii Gay Marriage Project
GLEA Foundation

A non-profit community service and advocacy agency
Supported totally by donations and volunteers - no paid staff.

Tax-deductible donations are encouraged to:

GLEA Foundation
P.O. Box 37083
Honolulu, Hawaii  96837