Special Events Coordinator Patty Teruya has resigned rather than face hearings on multiple charges that she abused her government position and misused city resources, according to the Honolulu Ethics Commission.

The Ethics Commission alleges that Teruya used city email to campaign for council and conduct job searches for her boyfriend, among others. She also used her position to secure discounts from vendors for personal events and tried to get her close friend hired for jobs for at least eight city-sponsored events to the exclusion of all other competitors. 

Chuck Totto, executive director and legal counsel for the commission called the violations “some of the most blatant I’ve seen in the city.”

However, as KITV reports: 

Totto also expressed his concern that city law does not allow the commission to impose civil fines directly on civil service employees who abuse their power.
“Without civil fines, there is no process to make the public whole for extreme misconduct by employees like Ms. Teruya,” said Totto. “The best we could do was to drum her out of her city job.”

The complete opinion is quite colorful with its examples. You can read it here.