Sign the Petition to Remove the Chief Elections Officer and Have a State Wide Audit of the 2024 Elections

The Maui County Charter prohibits Mr. Cook from having a financial interest which may tend to impair his independence of judgment in the performance of his official duties.  Hawai'i Revised Statutes states that no public official shall take any official action directly affecting a business or undertaking in which they have a substantial financial interest.   By statutory definition, and as a matter of law, as a well-paid consultant for a construction company, Mr. Cook undeniably has a significant financial interest in LC Hauling.  

 

The relevant legal principles governing conflicts of interest for public officials are aimed at ensuring that public officials maintain absolute loyalty and undivided allegiance to the public interest, free from any personal financial influences that might affect their official duties.   The case law is clear and consistent.

 

Courts have long held that a public official's judgment cannot be trusted if they are pulled in one direction by their financial interest and in another direction by their official duties.  Public officials must maintain absolute loyalty and undivided allegiance to the public interest.

 

The conflict-of-interest statutes are based upon the truism that a person cannot serve two masters simultaneously, which is regarded as a self-evident truth, as trite and impregnable as the law of gravity.

 

Consequently, our conflict-of-interest statutes are concerned with what might have happened rather than merely what actually happened.  They are aimed at eliminating temptation, avoiding the appearance of impropriety, and assuring the government of the officer's undivided and uncompromised allegiance.  Their objective “is to remove or limit the possibility of any personal influence, either directly or indirectly which might bear on an official's decision”

 

These principles of fact and law undeniably apply to Mr. Cook.  Whether or not Mr. Cook has actually voted improperly as a Maui County Council member is irrelevant.  The appearance of impropriety is undeniable.

 

For all of the reasons set forth herein, I have asked the Maui Board of Ethics to commence a formal investigation of Tom Cook.  I have asked the Maui Board of Ethics to issue a preliminary order which requires Tom Cook to recuse himself from voting upon any issue which impacts or affects any real estate development projects on Maui, in any way, until and unless the Maui Board of Ethics has completed its investigation, and the Board has issued a Formal Opinion regarding Mr. Cook’s alleged unethical conduct.