The Maui County Board of Ethics has concluded its review of a complaint against Maui County Council Member Wayne Nishiki, but its decision won't be made public, an attorney advising the board said.
The board's procedures allow for it to review complaints in private, so the informal advisory opinion approved by the board at its closed-door meeting last week will be released to Nishiki but not to the person who filed the complaint or to the public, said Hawaii County Deputy Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen, who was brought in to provide legal advice on the case.
"The decision is not public," she said.
Schoen said it was safe to conclude from the action that the board did not move the complaint to a formal hearing process, which would lead to a formal opinion that would be public.
The board's review stemmed from a complaint filed last year by Pukalani resident Michael Covich, who alleged Nishiki failed to comply with county financial disclosure requirements by missing the filing deadline in the Maui County Charter.
Nishiki's disclosure, which revealed that he had received a $100,000 personal loan from development firm Dowling Co., was filed Oct. 16, three months after it was due.
The form was not reviewed by the Board of Ethics until its next scheduled meeting, after the Nov. 4 election. Nishiki also did not file the form as required with the Maui County Clerk's Office, where it would have been immediately available for public review.
Nishiki's attorney Glenn Kosaka confirmed this week that the council member had received the ethics board's decision, but had no other comment.
Covich's attorney, Jim Fosbinder, called the action "everything that a corrupt government official could want it to be."
He said he expected to challenge the board's decision.
"They had arguments that were secret, questions that were secret, answers that were secret. We weren't allowed to respond, and now they have a decision that we're not allowed to see," he said. "It's like letting Kafka rewrite Machiavelli."
* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.
