Hawaii’s top airports official resigns following criticism about management skills, ethics

Hawaii’s top airports official abruptly resigns

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s top airports official has abruptly resigned, not long after he was criticized about his management skills and ethics.

Brian Sekiguchi’s resignation became official Friday. A spokeswoman for state Transportation Department Director Brennon Morioka said Monday that Sekiguchi offered his resignation and it was accepted.

Sekiguchi had been deputy transportation director for airports for about seven years. He recently came under fire for allowing the state to spend more than $500,000 to sublease a building near the airport that it already owned.

Last month, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Donna Mercado Kim grilled him about allegedly accepting free airline tickets from an airport vendor — a charge he denied.

Information from: KITV-TV, www.kitv.com/index.html