Maui Economic Development Director Placed On Paid Leave Pending Ethics Investigation
There’s an ongoing review of grants administered by the Office of Economic Development under director Luana Mahi.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen put his economic development director on paid leave Tuesday amid an ongoing probe of grants administered by her office.
Luana Mahi, the director, was placed on leave 鈥減ending further investigation,鈥 the mayor鈥檚 office said in a press release Wednesday.
Bissen ordered an internal audit of grants under the Office of Economic Development in March 鈥渄ue to concerns brought to the attention of the administration,鈥 the release said.
The announcement comes just days after Civil Beat published a story detailing the findings of a county ethics board opinion that found conflicts of interest involving Mahi and grants that went to nonprofits run by her family members.
Bissen said in a statement that his administration has a 鈥渮ero-tolerance policy鈥 for ethics violations, and that any infractions would be met with appropriate consequences.
鈥淪afeguarding our County of Maui community, our people, and our values is a critical responsibility that can only be accomplished with public trust and confidence,鈥 Bissen said.
Maui County directors and deputy directors are currently undergoing ethics training with county lawyers, the press release said.
The county also said that there is still an ongoing review of grants identified in an internal audit that began in March. The review is to ensure compliance with the county鈥檚 code, its charter and the grant agreements. It wasn鈥檛 immediately clear how many grants were identified in that audit.
In a redacted opinion from July, the Maui Board of Ethics flagged grant awards that went to the Maui Food Technology Center and Brilliant Minds Media for conflicts of interest involving Mahi.
Mahi was a former president for the . Her son and husband are both directors for Brilliant Minds Media.
One county grant that went to Brilliant Minds Media paid for a wall in the Kahului airport that drew criticism for its use of the word 鈥渒amaaina鈥 above pictures of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Willie Nelson.
Mahi couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment Wednesday. Her office referred media inquiries to the mayor鈥檚 office.
Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.
This story was supported with funding from the Data-Driven Reporting Project. The Data-Driven Reporting Project is funded by the Google News Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University | Medill.
