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Questions are swirling but answers are few as to why Maui County’s top money official was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this month.

Finance Director Scott Teruya has worked for Maui County for nearly 27 years, serving in the director spot since January 2019, according to his online bio.

For unknown reasons, he was asked to step aside on Feb. 2.

County spokesperson Laksmi Melelani Abraham described the situation as a personnel matter.

“Deputy Director Steve Tesoro is currently serving as Acting Finance Director, and we have complete confidence in his ability to step into this role and carry out the responsibilities of the Department of Finance,” she said by email Thursday. “We have no further comment at this time.”

Teruya, whose current salary is $151,872, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee said Mayor Richard Bissen called her last week to inform her of Teruya’s employment status.

“He did say that he wasn’t at liberty to provide any details, but he just wanted to let me know,” Lee said Wednesday.

Several other council members were also scratching their heads as to what prompted Bissen to place the county’s top on leave.

“We were told that Scott was going to be on leave and Steve Tesoro would fill in the meantime. No further information was shared with our office,” said Laura McDowell, executive assistant to council member Noelani U’u-Hodgins, in an email.

Tesoro did not respond to a request for comment.

Council member Yuki Lei Sugimura, who chairs the budget committee, said by text she was saddened by the news but knew nothing further.

Council member Gabe Johnson said Lee informed him about Teruya’s leave but said she had zero details.

“I don’t know the reason,” he said, adding that he would like the mayor to be more forthcoming.

“We can speak about transparency, but we got to practice it, and that’s all there is to it,” said Johnson.

Lee, former director of the county’s Housing and Human Concerns Department, said she’s not too surprised the administration is not revealing much about the cause of Teruya’s leave.

“Generally we don’t discuss cases that are pending, and sometimes these cases take months to resolve. And any personnel case can be very complicated,” Lee said.

Lee and Johnson said they’re particularly concerned because Teruya holds such a high-ranking position, third in line to the mayor.

That, combined with budget season fast approaching, an already stretched-thin department, and a county reeling from costly lawsuits related to the Aug. 8 wildfires that devastated Lahaina, makes it a particularly bad time to have a finance director on leave, the council members said.

“I have concerns because right now we’re getting ready to gear up for budget. And I’m going to have questions for our director of finance,” Johnson said.

The mayor is scheduled to transmit his proposed fiscal year 2025 budget to the council in late March.

“I have concerns with the operations of the finance department because they were shorthanded and so this could make it difficult,” Lee said.

There’s many reasons why a top official could be put on leave. These include medical and family issues or something more nefarious, including criminal activity.

Whatever it is, longtime Maui political observer Dick Mayer said he hopes Teruya is well and can return to the job because it’s a critical one.

“The finance director is responsible not only for putting together the budget, but also maintaining the county’s credit rating, which is something that people are looking at at this time,” Mayer said.

Teruya is a licensed real estate appraiser and prior to taking over leadership of the Finance Department under former Mayor Mike Victorino, he served as the county’s real property tax administrator for 21 years, from 1997 to 2019.

According to a profile on the county website, Teruya was born and raised in Manoa Valley and graduated from the University of Hawaii Manoa with a business degree in 1993. He moved to Maui four years later with his fiance, a Maui High graduate.

When not working, Teruya is said to be active as a youth baseball coach. Numbers, math and spreadsheets are a joy for Teruya, according to the profile.

“Math just came naturally to me,” Teruya said. “I’m a numbers guy.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.