The Maui County Council will not hire former state Attorney General Margery Bronster to investigate former Maui Mayor Linda Lingle and the Makawao Highlands housing project. Maui Council will
not hire BronsterStar-Bulletin staff
The decision at a council meeting Friday followed several hours of testimony, much of it urging the council not to hire Bronster for the job, several council members confirmed.
They said Lingle, chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party and a likely candidate for governor, was present at the meeting.
The council's four Republicans were joined by Democrats Robert Carroll and Michael Molina in voting against the proposal to spend up to $30,000 to hire Bronster.
"Mayor Lingle's name is unfairly linked to this project," Molina said yesterday.
"This shouldn't be an issue in the governor's race," Councilman Alan M. Arakawa said. If further investigation of the Makawao Highlands project is needed to clarify what happened, "any major pieces of documentation, we already have in our possession. In my mind I see no need to hire anyone else."
The other Democrats on the council -- Dain Kane, Riki Hokama and Patrick Kawano -- pointed to a consultant's report that indicated county money had been spent without proper approval on Makawao Highlands and that the housing project resulted in a loss to taxpayers of $1.4 million.
Kane said he still believes there should be some investigation of moves county officials made in relation to the project.
"Accountability is the bottom line," he said.
Maui County
