EXCLUSIVE: DLNR first-class travel

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - At a time when the Department of Land and Natural Resources Aquatics Division was struggling for funding, its former top administrator spent more than $40,000, mostly for first-class travel.

A review of former Aquatics division head Frazer McGilvray's government credit card, or pCard, expenditures shows that he took more than 30 first-class flights to the Mainland and the Neighbor Islands, including:

-- $3,800 for a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands;

-- $5,000 in airfare for travel to San Antonio;

-- $3,000 to attend a conference in Washington, D.C.;

The records show he also spent $6,800 to renovate his office and more than $3,000 for new iphones and personal computers.

"It was just excessive," said environmental activist Carroll Cox, who requested McGilvray's pCard and travel records.

"I'm informed that there was some programs that suffered because of this excessive spending."

Cox is not alone in raising concerns about McGilvray. In a letter last week to DLNR Chair Suzanne Case, staffers warned her about bringing McGilvray back to his $117,000-a-year-post and were critical of his management style.

"McGilvray made no qualms about making civil service staff aware of his sentiments that they were old, on their way out and had stale out of date knowledge and were of no value to the division," the letter said.

Staffers noted that McGilvray, now the executive director of the nonprofit Malama Maunalua, was not just abrasive with his subordinates.

"Mr. McGilvray referred to former Chairperson William Aila as an "over glorified Harbor Master" ... (and once told him) he looked like s*#!."

McGilvray could not be reached. But part of justification for his first-class travel was that he suffered from a medical condition.

But the staffers questioned the extent of McGilvray's injury, saying:

"He sought and received SCUBA certification, which required carrying a 40 lb. air tank …"

A DLNR spokesman declined comment, saying it was a personnel matter.