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A Maui County Council committee has voted in favor of paying as much as $450,000 to a Honolulu law firm to defend the county against allegations of wrongful termination and government corruption by a former mayoral aide.

The Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee went into executive session during its afternoon meeting on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with longstanding litigation brought by Chris Salem, a Napili resident who once worked for then-Mayor Mike Victorino.

Salem filed suit against the county in 2021 after Victorino fired him as legislative liaison. He’s representing himself in court.

The Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda law firm is acting as special counsel in the case that has landed in the courtroom of Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill on Maui. Judge Kirstin Hamman had originally handled the case but she stepped aside after Salem challenged her former employment with the county’s Office of Council Services as a conflict of interest.

KSG has already received $125,000 in taxpayer money to defend the county against Salem’s claims. In , the GREAT Committee agreed to pay KSG attorneys another $325,000.

KSG took over as special counsel for Maui’s Corporation Counsel, the county’s legal department, to avoid any conflicts of interest.

At the heart of Salem’s case are a suite of allegations claiming the departments of planning and public works, with the assistance of Corporation Counsel, colluded with private developers to avoid having to comply with Special Management Area and shoreline permit conditions. Salem points to the property at 5385 Lower Honoapiilani Road, which some residents refer to as the Greg Brown monster house.

It’s a massive structure that was allowed to be built despite exceeding county restrictions for height and size for a single-family home, prompting calls for an investigation that died in a committee chaired by council member Tamara Paltin, a Napili resident. The Brown house is currently on the market for just under $13 million.

Salem alleges that Victorino fired him because he was responding to citizen complaints about the Brown house and blowing the whistle on what he considers alleged wrongdoing and corruption occurring in the county administration.

The county attorney the allegations.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Salem has to expand its scope. For example, Salem recently asserted in court papers that the county auditor was “grossly negligent and failed to uphold professional auditing standards” for failing to track thousands of developer deferral agreements.

These agreements, in effect from 1974 to 2007, allowed developers of small subdivisions consisting of three or fewer lots to defer installing roadway improvements such as sidewalks, curbs, drainage and other features. Salem alleges developer deferral agreements cost taxpayers, who end up footing the bill for roadway infrastructure. from County Council discussions dating to 2010 indicate there was concern back then about the financial consequences to the county of such agreements.

Planning Director Kate Blystone said by email that questions about developer deferral agreements should be directed to the Department of Public Works.

DPW Director Jordan Molina did not respond to an interview request.

The Office of Corporation Counsel said by email that Maui County “does not comment on pending litigation.”

During Tuesday’s committee meeting, members went behind closed doors to discuss KSG’s legal fees and the possibility of settling the Salem lawsuit.

Committee chair Nohelani U-u-Hodgins asked KSG attorney Craig Shikuma if he would like to address the panel or answer questions about the lawsuit in open session.

“I prefer to answer questions and make some suggestions in executive session,” the attorney said.

Regarding the lawsuit, council chair Alice Lee said she expected that the matter would have been settled by now.

“Apparently Mr. Salem had different ideas,” Lee said in an interview.

“It’s a complicated case. Who knows how long this will last?”

Besides authorizing up to $450,000 to be spent on legal fees, the GREAT Committee also voted 5-0 in favor of a resolution that would allow for settlement of the case. Four members of the nine-person committee were excused from Tuesday’s meeting.

The full council is expected to vote on the resolutions at a meeting later in September.

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