Mahi

WAILUKU–The County of Maui Office of Economic Development Director Luana Mahi is now on paid leave, pending an investigation regarding her involvement in alleged misuse of grants and public funds.

According to a press release from the Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen’s Office sent on Thur., Aug. 22, Mahi went on leave on Tue., Aug. 20. The decision came following ongoing allegations regarding her oversight of public funds, which began making headlines on Aug. 15 with an Associated Press article.

According to the article, two nonprofits that had familial connections to Mahi were awarded more than $1 million since 2023 under Mahi’s oversight.

In March, Mayor Bissen, along with the Department of the Corporation Counsel and the County Finance Department, began conducting an internal audit of grants administered by the OED following concerns that were brought to the administration’s attention.

Two months later in July, the Maui Board of Ethics ruled that Mahi’s oversight of some grants amounted to a conflict of interest and said Mahi should recuse herself from “any acts related to the supervision, monitoring, administration, budgeting, or signing of such grants or any future grants.”

According to Thursday’s press release, Mayor Bissen’s administration is taking several steps in response to the allegations to ensure that future disbursements comply with Maui County Code, County of Maui Charter and the terms and conditions of the grant agreements. These steps include enacting mandatory ethics training for all County Deputy Directors under the direction of their Corporation Counsel. His office also issued a memo to all directors, deputy directors and the Office of the Mayor to reaffirm the county’s commitment to ethical standards.

“Safeguarding our County of Maui community, our people, and our values is a critical responsibility that can only be accomplished with public trust and confidence,” Mayor Bissen said in the press release. “I want to underscore my unwavering commitment to upholding a culture of the highest ethical standards within my administration. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any ethical violations, and I want to assure everyone that all infractions will be met with appropriate consequences.”

The announcement came amidst an ongoing conflict regarding a Honolulu Civil Beat article attempting to unveil the issue that was later challenged by the Maui Food Technology (MFTC). Mahi was previously president of MFTC, before leaving the position in December 2022 for the county director position.

On Aug. 16, MFTC sent a press release to the Maui News, demanding a retraction from Honolulu Civil Beat, and laid out four points they felt were inaccurately reported, all of which were categorically rejected, according to Civil Beat’s response emailed to The Maui News on Aug. 16.

“The article in question misrepresents our organization’s relationship with Luana Mahi and implies conflicts of interest regarding our grant submissions to the County of Maui’s Office of Economic Development (OED),” the release from the MFTC stated.

The Maui News reached out to Honolulu Civil Beat and their editor Patti Epler for clarification on the demands for a retraction.

“As the editor of the story, I take very seriously any allegations that we got facts wrong,” John Hill, the investigative editor for Civil Beat wrote in an email response to MFTC. “So I would like to go through your (MFTC’s) contentions point by point in rigorous detail.”

Multiple attempts were made to reach The County of Maui regarding the allegations but a response was not issued by press time Thursday.

*The article originally stated the Maui County Corporation Council would receive ethics training. They will lead the ethics training.