Ask the Mayor: Why Are County Vehicles Being Used for Personal Transportation?

Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column. Submit your own questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa at (808) 270-7855,  AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov  or mail them to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793.

Howzit Mayor,

Q: Why do some county employees take home county vehicles and use them for personal use? Not talking about trouble call or emergency repair personnel.

A: They shouldn’t be, as the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes prohibit personal use of a county vehicle. There is also a section in the Maui County Motor Vehicle Policy that prohibits “travel for pleasure, personal business and/or for personal use and convenience.”

Furthermore, the policy prohibits the “transport [of] any persons not directly related to the official county business being performed for which the county vehicle was authorized to be used.”

If the public believes that a county vehicle is being utilized for personal use, they should contact the Mayor’s Office and report the alleged incident. It is important that they provide us with a license plate number, date and time, and approximate location of the alleged incident. This will allow us to investigate and, if a violation is verified, take the appropriate steps to correct the violation.