HILO — State Sen. Kai Kahele has passed along a controversial state land lease in Milolii to a relative.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved transferring the residential lease to Orasa Fernandez at its meeting Friday in Honolulu.
Kahele held the lease since 2011. He continued to live in Hilo even though he was required to use the Milolii home as his primary residence.
Kahele said he took the lease over from a terminally ill aunt in order to keep it in the family.
Fernandez is the granddaughter of Sally Dacalio, who held the lease prior to Kahele.
The low-cost leases were established for those displaced by the 1926 Mauna Loa eruption.
Kahele told the Tribune-Herald that he knew of the residency requirement when he took on the lease, contrary to earlier statements he made to reporters.
The Land Board did not issue any penalties for the lease violation.
The issue was raised following Gov. David Ige appointing him in February to the District 1 seat held by his father, Sen. Gil Kahele, who died in January. Gil Kahele grew up in Milolii and founded Pa‘a Pono Miloli‘i, which his son later took over.
Kahele, a Democrat, is running for election to the District 1 seat in the Aug. 13 primary.
He said the plan was to eventually transfer it to another relative who could live there.
Kahele said he hoped to put the issue behind him.
“I had hoped to take care of this before the election,” he said.
“Things like this take a bit of time.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.