×

Panel defers action on ethics complaint

The Maui News – The Maui County Board of Ethics deferred action Wednesday on a complaint against Maui County Council Chairman Mike White.

Discussion of the matter was held in a closed-door executive session.

The complaint was filed Dec. 19 by Mark Sheehan of SHAKA (Sustainable Hawaiian Agriculture for the Keiki and the ‘Aina) and SAFE (Sustainable Action Fund for the Environment). Sheehan maintains that White used the resources of the council and its chairman’s office to organize the council with himself as chairman and Council Member Bob Carroll as vice chairman. White announced the council’s organization in a Nov. 11 news release.

White has said Sheehan’s complaint is “highly political and unsubstantiated.”

Last month, Board of Ethics Chairman Randol Leach told Sheehan in a letter that the board was dismissing all of his allegations, except those pertaining to ethics code violations. Other allegations “either do not come within the jurisdiction of the board, are speculative and/or because the complaint on its face did not allege sufficient facts to constitute such other violations.”

In a Feb. 6 letter to the Ethics Board, Sheehan asked that the panel defer action on his complaint Wednesday until it could obtain independent special counsel. He also sought to have his original complaint reinstated.

Sheehan said it’s a conflict of interest for the county Department of Corporation Counsel, which advices the County Council, to also advise the Board of Ethics.

He cited precedent from 2009 when a deputy corporation counsel, now Wailuku District Court Judge Adrianne Heely, recused herself from representing the ethics board and recommended hiring an outside counsel when an ethics charge was filed against a council member.

“The board at the time decided they would take no action and would do nothing until they had special counsel to advise them,” Sheehan said. “The item was scheduled for approval before the council in a timely manner and the board was able to conduct their business without the overshadowing conflict of interest they had previously faced.”

Sheehan said he had “grave concerns” that half of his complaint was already dismissed by the ethics board “under the advisement of your corporation counsel, without having the ability to present the facts to you myself.”

The dismissal of a portion of the complaint was “unwarranted and ill-considered, since the facts pertaining to the violation I have outlined are both well-documented and completely within the Board of Ethics’ jurisdiction.”

Sheehan’s complaint was deferred until the board’s next meeting. It is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. March 8 in the Department of Planning conference room in the Kalana Pakui building.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper?
     
Support Local Journalism on Maui

Only $99/year

Subscribe Today