Caving in: Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami who as we all know is in hot pursuit of the lieutenant governor’s office this election year has apparently decided the optics of accepting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a guy convicted of bribery didn’t look so good after all.

It turns out Kawakami has finally divested himself of the $15,000 he received a number of years ago from the late Milton Choy, Choy’s family and employees of his wastewater business.

But that’s only after opponents in the LG’s race raised quite a stink last month — and Civil Beat reported — that Kawakami had never given back or given away the Choy money like practically every other elected official had done.

In 2022, Choy was convicted of bribery-related charges that also took down two state lawmakers and a couple of Maui County officials. Politicians who had taken his money rushed to turn his donations over to the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission or return them.

Kawakami’s campaign told Civil Beat last month that the mayor never gave the money back and insisted the contributions were legit. Political opponents questioned his integrity. Political experts shook their collective heads and said Kawakami had some explaining to do.

And last week the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association endorsed state Rep. Della Au Belatti in the race and slammed Kawakami for keeping the Choy cash.

“Unlike Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and several others who gave back Choy-connected funds, Kawakami never did,” Randy Perreira, HGEA executive director, said in the endorsement. “We need leaders who put the interests of working people ahead of big developers and corporations.”

That proved to be one political swipe too much for Kawakami who slammed back with a press release of its own two days later — “Kawakami Condemns HGEA’s False Attack on Choy Contributions.”

“HGEA’s attack is false,” the mayor declared in the press release. “The campaign contributions were legal, and at no time did Mr. Choy ever ask for or receive preferential treatment. However, this issue has become a distraction from what families are actually worried about: housing, the cost of living, and homelessness.”

And, he mentioned, HGEA was falsely attacking him because he’d already donated $12,000 in contributions associated with Choy to local schools on Kauaʻi and transferred the remaining $3,000 to the Campaign Spending Commission.

What? When did that happen? Sometime in the last two weeks, as near as The Blog can tell, between the June 28 story publication and this past Thursday’s press release.

Kawakami’s campaign wouldn’t answer that question when asked by The Blog. A spokeswoman said the donations and transfer “will be reflected in the campaign’s required disclosure reports.”

Perhaps, but they were not listed in his most recent filing on Thursday, which covered Jan. 1 through June 30.

But Malulani Moreno, HGEA communications manager, said the $3,000 transfer to the commission was made on July 8.

No word on when the rest of the money was given out but the campaign’s press release says it went to the foundations of Waimea High School, Kauaʻi High School and Kapaʻa High School, with each school receiving $4,000.

Still, The Blog just has to point out that parting with $15,000 is no skin off Kawakami’s substantial political nose. His campaign finance report posted Thursday shows he’s raised more than $600,000 for this election and still had $128,000 in the bank. That is far more than his leading opponent, Belatti, and magnitudes above Honolulu attorney John Choi who is also running a credible campaign although on a shoestring.

Kawakami also has the backing of the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Union’s super PAC, For A Better Tomorrow, which has spent tens of thousands of dollars getting Kawakami’s name into the public consciousness among other things. (We won’t know exactly how much until that campaign finance report is filed on July 29.)

Kawakami is also leading in public opinion polls. And he’s so confident of victory that he’s turned down nearly every invitation to debate his opponents. Including Civil Beat’s candidate forum scheduled for July 22. Join us!

Maui madness: Maui Mayor Richard Bissen is in a tough reelection battle against Maui County Council member Yuki Lei Sugimura. So he probably wasn’t thrilled to see that yet another of his former top county officials has filed a lawsuit against him and the county, this time including the Maui County Board of Ethics.

This time around it is Luana Mahi, who spent some time as director of the Office of Economic Development until she found herself in hot water over, among other things, some questionable contracts she was involved in awarding to close associates including family members.

Essentially, the lawsuit alleges it was the mayor himself and other county officials who actually initiated and approved whatever questionable dealings may have been going on with various contracts and that Bissen and his people are just trying to pin the bad behavior on Mahi.

The Maui Board of Ethics looked into the allegations against Mahi and substantiated the complaint. She was ousted soon after that.

Read Mahi’s lawsuit here (spoiler alert: she did not like a Civil Beat story on the whole mess):

This is just the latest of several lawsuits to be filed against Bissen and the county by top aides who have left his administration in the past couple years. The lawsuits tend to overlap in the finger pointing (The Blog needs a spreadsheet to keep it all straight.)

In April, former chief of staff Leo Caires filed a case saying he was wrongly terminated after uncovering and reporting financial mismanagement being carried out by other employees. Mahi is featured in his lawsuit as he is in hers.

The Bissen administration has been a revolving door of department heads and administrators since the August 2023 fires, including top budget and finance officials.

Three’s company: As promised, Oʻahu County Democrats have decided on the candidates to send to Gov. Josh Green so that he may select a temporary replacement for Michelle Kidani, who resigned her District 18 state Senate seat on June 30.

According to a press release Thursday, they are the same three who applied for the position earlier this week:

• Sechyi Laiu, a senior Hawaiʻi civil service administrator with over 15 years of experience in commercial, family, immigration and legislative law, prior to becoming the litigation coordinator for the Hawaiʻi Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
• Beth Fukumoto, a political columnist for Civil Beat (currently on leave), a longtime Mililani resident and former Republican state representative who joined the Democratic Party in 2017 and completed her term as a Democratic legislator, serving as vice chair of the House committees on tourism and on veterans, military and international affairs, and culture and the arts.
• Danielle Bass, a fourth-generation, lifelong Mililani resident, lifelong Democrat, military spouse and public servant with more than 20 years of experience serving Central Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi.

The governor is not expected to make his pick until after the Aug. 8 primary. The new senator will serve until Nov. 3, the day of the general election when a special election will determine the new senator. For that election, the Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian parties will each select a candidate to be on the ballot to fill the remaining two years on the term.

There will also be a drawing for nonpartisan candidates who are interested in the gig. One name will appear on the same ballot.

District 18 voters, however, have been shut out of the process because Kidani waited to resign the seat until it was too late to hold a primary election under Hawaiʻi law.

Signs of the time: Can state legislators use state property such as a school fences to post signs that convey public service messages but also prominently feature their headshots, official title and names?

Not a good idea, says the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission, which last month issued an opinion advising against the practice.

“It reasonably appears to provide personal and political branding benefits unrelated to any valid state purpose,” the commission determined last month, explaining that that amounts to violation of the Fair Treatment law. It provides that no legislator or employee “shall use or attempt to use” an official position to secure or grant “unwarranted privileges, exemptions, advantages, contracts, or treatment” for oneself or others.

The opinion was prompted by two state legislators (who The Blog wishes were identified) who asked it they could post signs reading “Drive with Aloha.”

Meanwhile, on a related note, Sheila Medeiros, who is challenging Rep. Kanani Souza for the House District 43 (Kapolei, Makakilo), earlier this month filed a formal complaint with the Hawaiʻi Attorney General’s Office. Medeiros wants a full investigation into what she alleges is Souza’s “ongoing and extended use” of the great seal of the State of Hawaiʻi, her official title, name and likeness on promotional signs placed on state property.

Medeiros claims in a press release that Souza has displayed “Drive with Aloha!” signs and banners featuring her photograph, the title “State Representative Kanani Souza,” her name and the seal since at least August 2025. 

The AG’s office confirmed that it has received the complaint.

Souza issued this statement to The Blog via email Friday:

“While Medeiros has chosen to spend her time monitoring banners and attacking positive messaging intended to promote roadway safety, especially for our keiki and pedestrians in school zones, I have chosen to focus on the issues that matter most to the residents of House District 43 and the people of the state of Hawaiʻi. I wish her well as she embarks on her last-ditch effort in her smear campaign against me.”