Former council member details focus of federal probe into ex-HPD chiefâs payoff
Former council member details focus of federal probe into ex-HPD chiefâs payoff By Lynn Kawano | February 5, 2021 at 5:15 PM HST - Updated February 5 at 6:36 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - All nine members of the 2017 Honolulu City Council have now testified before a federal grand jury investigating the payoff for disgraced ex-HPD Chief Louis Kealoha.
All of them publicly opposed the deal back then but the Honolulu Police Commission went ahead and approved it anyway after negotiating the $250,000 payoff in secret.
Kym Pine, who was on the council at the time, said the grand jurors had video of the council grilling former commission Chairman Max Sword during a committee meeting four years ago.
Former no. 2 under Caldwell is working at Council to get taxpayer-funded benefits
Former managing director under Caldwell is working at City Council to get taxpayer-funded benefits By Lynn Kawano | January 26, 2021 at 6:04 PM HST - Updated January 26 at 7:53 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Roy Amemiya, who served as managing director in the Caldwell administration, is back at Honolulu Hale as a staffer for new Councilman Calvin Say.
Say described Amemiyaâs position as a legislative liaison and said itâs a temporary position, lasting between six months and a year.
He told HNN that Amemiya just wanted the job long enough to hit 10 years of city service. That milestone comes with 50% taxpayer-funded medical benefits for the rest of his life, among other credits.
Parade of former, current council members subpoenaed to testify in federal probe
Parade of former, current council members subpoenaed to testify in federal probe By Lynn Kawano | January 22, 2021 at 5:28 PM HST - Updated January 22 at 6:36 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - More officials currently or previously tied to Honolulu Hale are being called to testify in connection with a federal probe stemming from the Kealoha scandal.
Former City Council members Ernie Martin and Trevor Ozawa arrived for federal grand jury proceedings Thursday along with current City Councilman Brandon Elefante.
Both Elefante and Martin declined to comment about their appearance. Hawaii News Now sent an email to Ozawa but did not hear back.