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Maui County Council Member Mike White regained his position as chairman Monday late evening during a contentious first council meeting that included 75 testifiers and five failed nominations for other chairpersons.
The 5-4 vote took place at 10:40 p.m., with Council Members Bob Carroll, Stacy Crivello, Yuki Lei Sugimura, Riki Hokama and White voting in favor of White, and Council Members Alika Atay, Elle Cochran, Don Guzman and Kelly King voting against.
Shortly after, Carroll was elected vice chairman in a 6-3 vote, and the council voted unanimously to appoint Crivello as presiding officer pro tempore of the council.
The meeting, which covered other council organizational business, ended at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, after Corporation Counsel Pat Wong explained that the County Charter requires members to iron out organizational issues during its first meeting of the year.
Council members opposing White for chairman said they couldn’t support him in light of the ethics complaints hanging over White’s head. In separately filed claims, resident Mark Sheehan and the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action say White violated the County Charter and Sunshine Law by using county resources to announce himself as chairman and Carroll as vice chairman before the council could take an official vote. Sheehan has also started impeachment proceedings with the county.
However, White said past councils have often announced their leadership ahead of the official Jan. 2 vote and said Cochran and Guzman also were trying to organize support before the official vote.
For more on the story, see Wednesday's Maui News.