In plain words: For each official, who funded them. Follow the money straight to the person.
12 Stones Global · Kilo Aupuni · money behind officials

The Money Behind Maui's Officials

Campaign contributions to each tracked official, from the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission public record, with real-estate / development donors flagged and recusals attached.

All figures are public record (CSC dataset jexd-xbcg). Contributions are lawful. The point is the map: who funds whom, and whether votes track the money. Every claim here is a question for reporting and verification — not an allegation against any donor or official.

Where the money is focused

$2,098,916
total tracked · 10 officials
$344,788
real-estate / development
16%
of all money is land / dev
6%
out-of-state (avg)
12
donors funding 2+ officials
10
donors who are county vendors

Sector concentration — the land & development tilt

In a land-, tourism- and rebuild-driven county, the dollars closest to power are the dollars closest to land use, permits, zoning (Title 19), STR / Bill 9, and the Lahaina rebuild. This is how much of all tracked money carries a real-estate / development signature.

⬤ real-estate / development · $344,788 (16%)⬤ all other sectors · $1,754,128

The influence web — donors funding multiple decision-makers

Contributors who appear in the top donors of more than one tracked official. Giving broadly is lawful; the map asks who is buying a relationship with the whole body, not one seat.

$16,000Ledcor Development LP → 4 officials (Bissen, Cook, Lee, Sugimura)
$14,000Hawaii Realtors PAC → 4 officials (Cook, Johnson, Lee, Uu-Hodgins)
$13,250Lanai Resorts, LLC → 3 officials (Cook, Lee, Sugimura)
$13,000Hawaii Laborers Political Action Committee → 3 officials (Cook, Lee, Uu-Hodgins)
$11,900IWAMOTO, KIM COCO → 2 officials (Johnson, Rawlins-Fernandez)
$11,750Goodfellow, Tamar → 2 officials (Sugimura, Uu-Hodgins)
$11,046Love, Linda → 3 officials (Johnson, Rawlins-Fernandez, Sinenci)
$11,000HAWAII OPERATING ENGINEERS INDUSTRY STABILIZATION → 3 officials (Paltin, Sugimura, Uu-Hodgins)
$9,500Local Union 1186 IBEW PAC fund → 2 officials (Lee, Sugimura)
$9,046Williams, Michael → 3 officials (Johnson, Rawlins-Fernandez, Sinenci)
$9,000Kaanapali Farm Services, Inc. → 3 officials (Lee, Paltin, Uu-Hodgins)
$8,793MAUI PONO NETWORK → 3 officials (Johnson, Rawlins-Fernandez, Sinenci)

Donors who also hold county contracts

$8,483,626 in Maui County contract awards went to firms — or their named principals — who also gave $14,264 to these officials. Both are lawful; the public question is whether the contracts track the giving. full contracts × donors join →

$4,706,880FUKUMOTO ENGINEERING, INC. · county contracts — also gave $1,750 to Batangan, Sugimura
$1,316,727R. T. TANAKA ENGINEERS, INC. · county contracts — also gave $3,975 to Bissen, Lee, Sugimura
$1,000,000MICHAEL WRIGHT & ASSOCIATES, INC. · county contracts — also gave $400 to Sugimura
$464,330NISHIKAWA ARCHITECTS, INC. · county contracts — also gave $750 to Sugimura
$391,280Allana Buick & Bers, Inc. · county contracts — also gave $500 to Cook
$248,870CDF ENGINEERING · county contracts — also gave $500 to Cook
$150,000BERLIEN CONSULTING LLC · county contracts — also gave $4,450 to Bissen, Cook, Lee, Sugimura, Uu-Hodgins
$91,246OTOMO ENGINEERING, INC. · county contracts — also gave $850 to Sugimura

The disaster lens — who funds the rebuild deciders

After the August 8, 2023 Lahaina fire, roughly $1.639B in federal recovery funds (CDBG-DR · Bill 32) flows through these same officials, atop the FY2027 county budget. Disaster recovery concentrates land, permit and contract decisions — exactly where development money is heaviest. The question for the public, in the nation’s most-documented corruption record: does the recovery money track the donor money? Set this dashboard beside the money × votes and contracts × donors pages and judge from the record.

Per official — sorted by real-estate-sector money

Richard Bissen - Mayor (incumbent), former judge
$665,271 raised · 728 gifts · $93,235 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 9% out-of-state · full profile →
Tom Cook - Councilmember, South Maui
$372,580 raised · 422 gifts · $84,268 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 2% out-of-state · full profile →
Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins - Councilmember
$233,353 raised · 292 gifts · $72,000 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 5% out-of-state · full profile →
Yuki Lei Sugimura - Council Vice-Chair, BFED Chair; mayoral candidate
$354,610 raised · 772 gifts · $47,485 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 1% out-of-state · full profile →
Alice L. Lee - Council Chair
$157,831 raised · 210 gifts · $33,250 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 4% out-of-state · full profile →
Tamara Paltin - Councilmember, West Maui
$79,007 raised · 201 gifts · $8,450 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 4% out-of-state · full profile →
Gabe Johnson - Councilmember
$57,224 raised · 124 gifts · $4,500 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 7% out-of-state · full profile →
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez - Councilmember, Molokai
$111,197 raised · 220 gifts · $1,600 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 7% out-of-state · full profile →
Shane Sinenci - Councilmember, East Maui
$47,902 raised · 139 gifts · $0 real-estate · 0 recusal(s) · 1% out-of-state · full profile →
Kauanoe Batangan - Councilmember, Kahului
$19,940 raised · 44 gifts · $0 real-estate · 5 recusal(s) · 18% out-of-state · full profile →
🌺 ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi here is offered with humility and held under community review with ʻŌiwi resources at Maui County. See the glossary →