For immediate release: Feb. 18, 2015
Press release by:
Council Chair Mike White
Maui County Council
Prosecuting attorney’s nomination to be decided next month
WAILUKU, Hawaii – John D. Kim’s nomination for another four-year term as prosecuting attorney for Maui County was not approved or disapproved at today’s council meeting, Council Chair Mike White announced after the meeting this afternoon.
White said the decision on the nomination will be made at a council meeting next month. The council has until March 6 to make a decision.
White offered the following statement this evening:
A motion to approve the nomination of John D. Kim as the county’s prosecuting attorney today failed by a 2-5 vote.
The concerns raised by some employees in the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney about alleged favoritism and mismanagement are serious. The council is obligated to take them into account.
The Chamber is the public’s home, and everyone is encouraged to attend council meetings, either to testify or just to watch. But it is concerning that what appeared to be dozens of prosecutors and other staff were summoned to the Chamber during the council’s deliberations, with the obvious goal of influencing the county’s policy makers through a show of physical presence.
I welcome testimony from all members of the community, including county staff. But employees today from the Department of Prosecuting Attorney, who came out as a group, must know they are paid by taxpayers to prosecute, not to campaign for a council decision during official time.
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