Kalani English’s Fall From Grace Leaves Former Constituents Feeling Betrayed … For nearly two decades, the Maui legislator was secure in his Hawaii Senate seat. Then came his sudden retirement, followed by a bribery scandal.
A longtime bastion of Hawaii politics who championed Hawaiian culture and progressive environmental reforms, former Senate majority leader J. Kalani English’s rise to power over a 24-year political career was undone last month when he admitted taking cash bribes to steer wastewater legislation.
In his hometown of Hana, community leaders expressed a sense of loss over the fall of the 55-year-old lawmaker who long gave a voice to Maui residents who often feel overlooked by the state government.
Others said the federal fraud charges against English have merely solidified the idea that corruption is endemic to politics.
