November 7, 2024
A Hawaii official who has been accused of withholding water from firefighters during a critical point in the Maui wildfire was previously named a "leader" by the Obama Foundation in 2019. M. Kaleo Manuel, who served as deputy director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management, has been moved...

A Hawaii official who has been accused of withholding water from firefighters during a critical point in the Maui wildfire was previously named a “leader” by the Obama Foundation in 2019.

M. Kaleo Manuel, who served as deputy director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management, has been moved to a different position pending an investigation of the matter, according to local ABC News affiliate KITV.

West Maui Land Company sought release of the water around 1 p.m. August 8 during the deadly wildfire, but Manuel declined the request saying he would have to check with local farmers beforehand.

He finally authorized the release at 6 p.m. that evening, according to the company, the Star Advertiser reported.

At least 111 people died in the wildfire, which swept through Lahaina area, making it the most deadly in the United States in over 100 years.

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Additionally, over 2,200 buildings have been destroyed or damaged, about 86 percent of which were residential.

The West Maui Land Company wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to Manuel that his commission would not grant permission for the company to divert streams to fill reservoirs, resulting in significant loss.

“We watched the devastation around us without the ability to help,” the company said in the letter. “We anxiously awaited the morning knowing that we could have made more water available to MFD if our request had been immediately approved.”

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In a Wednesday statement, the Department of Land and Natural Resources encouraged the public to avoid making judgments about Manuel’s decision-making “until all the facts are known,” according to Honolulu Civil Beat.

The DLNR notes on its website that Manuel is “one of 200 inaugural Obama Leaders representing the Asia-Pacific region with the Obama Foundation.”

In a November 2022 livestream, he said that native Hawaiians viewed water in sacred terms.

“We’ve become used to looking at water as something that we use, and not something that we revere. It’s a shift in value set. We can reconnect to that traditional value set,” he said.

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“So really my motto is let water connect us and not divide us,” Manuel added. “We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity.”

Former President Barack Obama, who grew up in Hawaii, posted a video Monday encouraging people to give to the relief organizations responding to the wildfire.

“The thing about it is at a time like this thoughts and prayer are not enough, we have to step up and we have to help those families and we have to help the people of Lahaina rebuild,” Obama said.

Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”

Birthplace

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Nationality

American

Honors/Awards

Graduated dean’s list from West Point

Education

United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law

Books Written

We Hold These Truths

Professional Memberships

Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars

Location

Phoenix, Arizona

Languages Spoken

English

Topics of Expertise

Politics, Entertainment, Faith