Hawaiʻi County voters will find just one charter amendment on their November ballots this year, and it's aimed at fixing a problem that left the county auditor's office in limbo for four months last year. The measure would let the county auditor appoint a deputy auditor with authority similar to the auditor's own, reclassifying an existing vacant position rather than adding new staff.
The proposal, Bill 152, passed the Hawaiʻi County Council unanimously and amends Article III, Section 3-18 of the county charter. As reported by Honolulu Civil Beat, the bill was co-sponsored by Council Members Holeka Goro Inaba and Ashley Kierkiewicz and cleared its second reading in June, sending the question to the November general election ballot, according to Hawaiʻi County Council records.
The push traces directly back to what happened after former County Auditor Tyler Benner resigned effective July 25, 2025, following four years in the role. The office sat without a permanent leader for four months until Clare McAdam was hired as auditor in December, a gap that, per the same council records, left no deputy in place to sign off on reports or manage personnel during the interim.
Why A Signature Matters
Under the current charter, audits cannot be published without the auditor's own signature, meaning a vacancy doesn't just create an awkward gap in leadership — it can freeze the office's actual output. Previous auditor vacancies resulted in suspensions of ongoing audits and other office work, and auditor's office employees can be terminated by a new auditor when an auditor leaves or completes a six-year term, according to the Civil Beat report.
That uncertainty has consequences for staffing, too. Auditor's office employees may quit because of job uncertainty during a vacancy, or may leave for another county department rather than wait out an unclear chain of command, the outlet notes. McAdam, who took office in December, has expressed support for hiring a deputy and said a deputy could help retain staff and reduce workplace anxiety, per the same account.
Council Chairman Holeka Goro Inaba said a vacancy can create uncertainty about interim leadership of the office, framing the charter amendment as a way to provide a clear line of succession. If approved, the deputy auditor would step in as county auditor when the sitting auditor is sick or absent for an extended period, and would have the same power over auditor's-office employees as executive-branch department heads already hold.
Filling An Existing Vacant Slot
Rather than expanding the office's headcount, the auditor's office would reclassify one existing position as deputy auditor if voters approve the amendment — most likely the currently vacant administrative services assistant position. The auditor's office has five budgeted positions for fiscal year 2027, and the County Salary Commission would likely determine the deputy auditor's salary, the same reporting states. The current county auditor earns $162,540 per year, according to Civil Beat's reporting.
How Neighbor Islands Compare
Hawaiʻi County would not be breaking entirely new ground. The City and County of Honolulu remains the only county in Hawaiʻi with an established deputy city auditor position, one that assumes interim operational leadership during vacancies or extended absences, per Honolulu Civil Beat's prior coverage. Notably, the Honolulu charter does not explicitly mention appointing a deputy, but it does state that the auditor can hire and fire personnel in the auditor's office. Kauaʻi's charter likewise does not explicitly address a deputy position.
Maui County offers a different model altogether. Voters there established the Office of the County Auditor through a 2012 charter amendment, creating an independent auditor appointed to six-year terms, but without a separate charter-mandated deputy position, according to Maui County.
What The Office Is Auditing Now
The stakes of a functioning, uninterrupted auditor's office are significant given the scope of what the office reviews. The county auditor's office conducts financial and performance audits of county agencies, programs and operations, overseeing a Hawaiʻi County government with a nearly $1 billion operating budget and an over $350 million capital budget for fiscal year 2027.
Currently, the office is conducting an audit of the county's homeless and housing fund, and it plans to audit the Department of Water Supply's finances, the county's wastewater division, and the county's Section 8 program in the coming year. Under Section 3-18 of the charter, the auditor serves a six-year term and is appointed by the Hawaiʻi County Council, which retains authority to remove an auditor for cause by a two-thirds vote.
The office's oversight role has real teeth to it, as demonstrated by a 2023 audit that found only 336 of 1,811 affordable housing credits issued by the county between 1988 and 2023 — fewer than 10% — actually resulted in affordable housing construction, while 638 credits were sold privately at values up to $75,000 each, according to Hawaiʻi Public Radio's reporting at the time. McAdam presented a formal follow-up review on those affordable housing credits to the council in June, checking whether departments had implemented earlier oversight recommendations.
Voters approved a 2022 charter amendment that expanded the auditor's duties to include investigating whistleblower reports submitted through the county's fraud, waste, and abuse hotline, making departmental compliance with those inquiries mandatory. This November's measure would build on that trajectory of incremental charter changes, giving the office a built-in succession plan the current charter lacks.
