The passes are part of a VIP parking program quietly instituted by marketplace management last year.

Acceptance and use of the free passes by public employees or officials may have violated ethics laws, especially if they were used for personal visits to the waterfront attraction, state and county ethics officials say.

Parking fees were waived for those on the VIP list at the same time that marketplace developers defaulted on millions of dollars due to the state and to Mitsui Trust & Banking Co., the project's lender.

The passes were unsolicited, and there are no records showing how frequently they were used, if at all. They expire at the end of the year, and Mitsui, which has filed foreclosure proceedings, has ordered that they not be renewed, said Marleen Akau, the marketplace's general manager.

According to a list obtained by the Star-Bulletin, those given free parking include:

Gov. Ben Cayetano and Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris.

The executive director and one board member of the Aloha Tower Development Corp., which administers the state's interest in the waterfront area.

Two top planners of the state's waterfront redevelopment.

State harbors administrators.

The Aloha Stadium manager and assistant manager, along with a member of the Stadium Authority.

22 top-ranking Honolulu police officers, including Chief Michael Nakamura and six assistant chiefs, as well as one officer each from the Kalihi, Pearl City and Wahiawa stations.

A city fire inspector, a city Building Department official, and an attorney from the prosecutor's office.

Dan Mollway, executive director of the state Ethics Commission, said commission rules prevent him from discussing any specific situation.

He said, however, state officers or employees are generally prohibited from accepting gifts if they appear intended to influence official actions, or as rewards for prior actions.

State officials also are prohibited from using their positions to obtain unwarranted advantages or favors not generally available.

City ethics provisions contain similar restrictions, said Carolyn Stapleton, attorney for Honolulu's Ethics Commission.

Ron Hirano, Aloha Tower Development Corp. executive director, said the free parking would not affect decisions about the marketplace.

"I hardly use it," Hirano said, "and while it could be inferred that I'm in a position to favor them, I'm really not in a position to do anything for the marketplace."

"Most of the action involving the marketplace is a matter of board decisions or board policy," Hirano said.

The ATDC board will soon consider a request to significantly reduce the lease rent marketplace developers pay the state.

One ATDC board member, Nick Teves, Jr., also received a pass.

Hirano acknowledged receiving additional passes which he delivered to Aloha Stadium manager Ed Hayashi and an assistant, and to state waterfront planners.

State harbors chief Tom Fujikawa said he did not solicit the pass and has only used it once.

Charles Yee, head of the city Building Department's plans examining unit, said he probably received the parking pass because "they used to come in and talk to us."

"I guess it was a courtesy pass," Yee said.

Yee said he doesn't shop at the marketplace does not know what happened to the pass.

Honolulu Police Department spokesman Brandon Stone said Chief Nakamura has a pass but has not used it.

Stone said police officers did not ask for the passes, which were mailed directly and not delivered through HPD.

"Of course, we are governed by ethics laws of the city."

"But you get down to a level where its difficult to police these things unless you get complaints of misuse or abuse," Stone said.

Attorney Randal Lee, director of the misdemeanor prosecution division of the city prosecutor's office, said the pass was mailed to him in a holiday card at the end of 1995.

"We worked with them in training security officers, that's probably why I received it," Lee said.

Helene "Sam" Shenkus, director of corporation communications/

community relations and formerly head of marketing for the marketplace, said the free parking was offered "as a customer service to try to build some bridges and get positive communication re-established with people who said that they wouldn't entertain here because of the parking problems."

Most of the passes went to prominent people in the private sector.

These included executives from dozens of local hotel and tourism-related companies; chief executive officers and other top executives from major banks and downtown firms; and trustees of the Bishop Estate and Campbell Estate, along with top Bishop Estate managers.

Two Honolulu Star-Bulletin columnists were among news media representatives who received free parking passes for the Aloha Tower Marketplace.

The Star-Bulletin did not solicit the passes and employees who received them have been instructed not to use them, said Managing Editor David Shapiro.

"Our ethics policy does not allow us to accept anything of significant value from anybody seeking to influence the news," Shapiro said.

"If we need to park at Aloha Tower Marketplace to cover a story, we'll pay for it."

News executives and news anchors at four Honolulu television stations, along with entertainment writers for other local publications, were also sent passes, according to a listing of all VIP passes issued.

Tom Brislin, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Hawaii and a former reporter, said such gifts raise questions of professional ethics.

"Obviously, these aren't given away without some expectation, if not of favorable news coverage, then at least some coverage of what happens there. It's incurring a favor," Brislin said.