Hawaii State House Speaker Scott Saiki hit the mark this week while proposing better oversight for the suddenly burgeoning industry of Lahaina fire relief fundraising.

Saiki called on Hawaii Gov. Josh Green to issue an emergency proclamation “to prohibit and criminalize fundraising under false pretenses.” Saying sham fundraisers were a “threat to innocent donors,” Saiki predicted they would have a “chilling effect” on giving. He also called for an official process to “audit donations to assure they are spent to assist Maui victims.”

Saiki made his plea a day after Civil Beat broke news of questionable fundraising efforts by one of his former colleagues, Kaniela Ing. Ing, who represented Kihei in the State House from 2012 to 2018, leads the super PAC, Our Hawaii Action. The committee has reportedly collected more than $600,000 since the fires as part of its recently created Maui Community Power Recovery Fund. The organization’s website states that portions of the money it raises for Lahaina will be used to support political candidates and ideals. Ing has been quoted that he is not making a dime off the super PAC.

A skeptic could point out that this is the same man who pleaded no contest last month to the misdemeanor charge of failing to file a timely campaign spending report. Or that he was fined $15,000 in 2018 for numerous violations that included using campaign funds to pay personal expenses and filing false reports. Bank records subpoenaed by the Campaign Spending Commission for that case showed Ing failed to disclose about $28,915 in campaign contributions and $87,559 in expenditures. The records showed he used campaign money to cover rent on Maui and Oahu and to pay a domestic partner’s credit card bill.

In January of 2017, Ing pleaded no contest and was fined $500 as part of a plea agreement after being cited in 2016 for operating a motor vehicle on a public street without car insurance, proper safety sticker or current registration. He failed to appear for a 2016 court date for the matter and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Let’s say Ing has learned his lesson, that the books for his political action committee are clean and he is volunteering his time and energy purely out of the goodness of his heart. Let’s assume every person who donates to his organization is fully aware that an unspecified portion of their money will be diverted to unspecified candidates, causes and costs.

None of it changes the fact that Ing’s committee is cashing in on Lahaina’s misery. There is no ethical justification for comingling fire relief fundraising and political action. What if the Democratic and Republican parties decided to follow suit? What if everybody with a cause tied their money-making efforts to Lahaina’s recovery?

Saiki is correct. Trust would dry up in an instant. We need guardrails, we need oversight and we need transparency.