Nakazawa served during highly litigious period by Lester Chang – THE GARDEN ISLAND County Attorney Lani Nakazawa stepped down from her job effective noon yesterday, to explore other positions in the administration of Mayor Bryan Baptiste. “She is exploring options
Nakazawa served during highly litigious period
by Lester Chang – THE GARDEN ISLAND
County Attorney Lani Nakazawa stepped down from her job effective noon yesterday, to explore other positions in the administration of Mayor Bryan Baptiste.
“She is exploring options is the best way I can put it,” Baptiste said yesterday.
Nakazawa, who held the county’s top legal job for the past four years, was not immediately available for comment.
Baptiste said she will remain with the county attorney’s office to help flesh out new county departments, offices and divisions created through charter amendment proposals approved by voters in the Nov. 7 general election.
“She will be in charge of the formation of some of those offices,” Baptiste said.
Those offices may include the new county Department of Parks and Recreation and a new charter commission to operate yearly until 2016, when it will be created every 10 years.
Baptiste said deputy county attorney Christiane Nakea-Tresler will serve in place of Nakazawa while a search for a permanent replacement begins.
Nakazawa, a Stanford University graduate, oversaw a legal department at a time when the county has been hit by lawsuits and complaints against county employees, including those filed by and against police officers.
In one federal case, former Kaua‘i police chief K.C. Lum has claimed discrimination.
In another case, a Kaua‘i family recently filed a lawsuit claiming a Kaua‘i police officer allegedly planted drugs and drug paraphernalia in homes and a vehicle.
In such cases, Nakazawa’s office requested hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Kaua‘i County Council to represent the county in lawsuits brought against it.
In many cases, her office was successful in securing the funding commitment from the council, to the chagrin of some legislators who wanted more justification.
Nakazawa’s department also studied legal issues for some of the largest Kaua‘i land development projects to come along in recent memory.
They included the downsizing of the 1,002-acre Kukuiula project in Poi‘pu and the 500-plus-acre Kauai Lagoons project adjacent to the Kauai Marriott resort in Lihu‘e.
• Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@kauaipubco.com.
