Kauai mayor ends
$16,000 lease of
luxury sedan
to resolve debate

Kusaka says she will pay
the cost of the car's early return

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By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> Kauai Mayor Maryanne Kusaka told the Kauai County Council yesterday she has terminated her controversial lease of a luxury sedan using county funds and will personally pay the $2,607 cost of turning the car in early.

Kusaka's leasing of the bright red Chrysler 300M in February cost the county almost $16,000 for a one-time lease payment. That's four times the annual auto allowance the Council gave her of just under $4,000.

The mayor's staff insisted her shuffling of funds to come up with the extra money was legal under "program budgeting" authority given her three years ago. A "program budget" allows administrators to move funds around without Council approval as long as they do not exceed the total budget appropriation.

In the sharpest conflict between the Council and mayor since Kusaka took office in 1994, the Council stripped Kusaka of her "program budget" authority and reverted to a line item budget, which gives no discretion in moving funds.

Several council members then questioned whether Kusaka violated the County Charter by obligating the county to a multiyear contract without Council approval. Although the two-year lease cost was paid in one payment, future maintenance and potential liability for the car extends into future budget years, they said.

Kusaka responded with a bill asking for retroactive Council approval for the lease. That measure was up for public hearing yesterday, but Kusaka avoided a showdown with critics by returning the car to the auto dealership on Tuesday.

"I have not taken this action because I am concerned about any wrongdoing of which my administration has been accused," Kusaka told the Council yesterday. "The debate has been extremely contentious and counterpro- ductive. Therefore, cancellation of this lease is the right thing to do."

Councilman Kaipo Asing, a longtime political foe of Kusaka's, said yesterday the mayor made it clear from the beginning of the controversy she leased the car for herself with county money after the Council turned down her request for a pay raise.

"That's totally wrong," Asing said. "It has nothing to do with personality. It has everything to do with the process."

Councilman Gary Hooser, another Kusaka critic, thanked the mayor for turning in the car and ending the dispute.

"But I'm disappointed there was not some acknowledgment of responsibility," Hooser said. "It bothered me when (in March when the Council learned of the lease) I asked the mayor a question and the response was, that's none of my business.

"The fault was not with the question, but with the answer," Hooser said. Kusaka has gone back to driving her privately owned Cadillac.