LIHU‘E — The money approved by the Kaua‘i County Council to be used in private attorney fees in a Kaua‘i Police Commission versus Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. lawsuit now amounts to $55,000, after last week’s approval by the council of
LIHU‘E — The money approved by the Kaua‘i County Council to be used in private attorney fees in a Kaua‘i Police Commission versus Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. lawsuit now amounts to $55,000, after last week’s approval by the council of an additional $15,000 to the administration.
Civil complaint No. 12-1-0229, filed June 27 by Honolulu-based attorneys Corlis Chang, Edmund Saffery and Marissa Owens on behalf of the commission, is schedule to go before 5th Circuit Court Chief Judge Randal Valenciano today at 1 p.m.
“The mayor has stated repeatedly in the past, and still says today, that he looks forward to any clarification the court is willing to provide relative to the authority of the mayor over the police chief,” county spokeswoman Beth Tokioka said Monday. “Clarity will allow us to put the question to rest and move forward productively.”
On Feb. 2, Carvalho suspended Kaua‘i Police Department Chief Darryl Perry for seven days, and then put him on administrative leave. The commission unanimously voted to put Perry back on his post by Feb. 22. But Carvalho refused to reinstate Perry, and told that the chief was still on administrative leave, according to the complaint. On March 12, Carvalho officially reinstated Perry.
The commission is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court that the commission has the sole authority to suspend and/or otherwise discipline the police chief.
According to the complaint, the Kaua‘i County Charter gives the mayor “the authority to appoint the seven members of the commission, but it does not give the mayor the authority to regulate any business of the police department, including matters of the Chief of Police.”
On Aug. 24, private Honolulu-based attorneys Wendel Fuji and Anthony Suetsugu, hired by the administration to defend Carvalho, filed an official response to the complaint, asking the court to dismiss the complaint and issue a declaratory judgment that the mayor has power to exercise direct supervision over KPD, including the power and authority to suspend, place on administrative leave and/or otherwise discipline the police chief.
The council on Sept. 5 had approved a request from the commission for up to $20,000 to be used in special counsel in the civil suit. The money approved in September was in addition to $10,000 previously approved by the council for each party to spend in private attorneys’ fees.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
