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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Prime example of all bark no bite and he never looked back..."}]

Smile 26 8 14

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, Aug. 14, 2026</title>

Prime example of all bark no bite and he never looked back...

Daily Smile: Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

 Prime example of all bark no bite and he never looked back...

Ray Tsuchiyama

Business & Tourism

Columnists

During my two decades in Japan, every summer I traveled to Honolulu for our family vacation. After the flight from Tokyo, I would drive on Nimitz Highway, looking at miles of rusting warehouses and used-car lots, along with hundreds of single-wall homes and walk-up apartment buildings. And on every trip, I would ponder: Why hasn't anything changed since I first moved to Kalihi a few years after Statehood?

When I moved to Tokyo in 1991, I saw acres of old buildings and tiny streets in the middle of a vast metropolis. One by one, I witnessed hundreds of family-owned parcels assembled and redeveloped into projects such as Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Midtown and, more recently, Azabudai Hills.

The contrast was staggering: old Tokyo residential neighborhoods becoming new mixed-use districts with retail, restaurants, entertainment, hotels and, most importantly, new housing.

I was witnessing a different development process.

Why didn't Hawaiʻi develop an equivalent process?

During my Hawaiʻi visits, over lunch with friends at Bishop Street law and banking firms, the conversation would return again and again to what they regarded as the Holy Grail of Hawaiʻi's economic discussion:

In hindsight, perhaps these questions started from the wrong place.

Of course, tourism is the obvious economic engine. But Hawaiʻi also has generationally accumulated private wealth, much of it embedded in real estate — which is a role rarely discussed in Hawaiʻi’s economy.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Families own:"}]

Much of this wealth is invisible in conventional economic-development discussions.

Hawaiʻi has two economies: the visible economy of visitors and the invisible economy of accumulated local capital.

Yet being “invisible” does not mean that Hawaiʻi families are necessarily poor in wealth. Instead, they are often heavily concentrated in one form of wealth: land and real estate.

Compare that with wealthy families in larger Mainland economies or internationally connected regions. Many have diversified their fortunes into operating businesses that produce revenues well beyond their home markets — like consumer or food products.

A family business in California or New York can build factories, distribution networks or brands that sell around the world. A small country or region does not necessarily have to be a limitation.

Switzerland is an instructive example. With a population of only about nine million — roughly nine Hawaiʻis —globally recognized Swiss firms like UBS, Rolex and Novartis remind us that the size of a domestic market does not determine the potential scale of a business.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Hawaiʻi's challenge has been different."}]

Generations of Hawaiʻi families accumulated wealth primarily through land and real estate. That created long-term wealth, but it also created concentration.

A $50 million property portfolio is not the same thing as $50 million in cash, or a global operating company generating $50 million in annual revenue.

That distinction becomes especially important when a family owns a valuable property but needs capital to improve it.

Selling the property may conflict with family legacy, stewardship, future generations, emotional attachment, and long-term appreciation.

I recall sitting in the Castle & Cooke boardroom in the early 1980s and listening to the CEO discuss how the company owned thousands of acres of land but had difficulty finding the capital to develop it to its “highest and best use.”

If a major Hawaiʻi landowner with institutional relationships and access to Mainland credit lines could struggle to finance development, what happens to a family that owns a single Waikīkī retail property?

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The issues are not theoretical."}]

One family member wants to renovate the building. Another wants a distribution. Someone else wants to buy a house.

These are not abstract questions of operations or return on investment. They are real family decisions being made today in Nu‘uanu, Mānoa, Hawaiʻi Kai and communities throughout the Islands.

The challenge for the next generation of Hawaiʻi families may not be creating wealth.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"It may be learning how to steward it."}]

The founder's philosophy — “Never sell the land” — worked remarkably well for a generation. Land provided security, income, appreciation, and family continuity.

But what happens when the founder is gone and the property passes to five children, 12 grandchildren and eventually 30 beneficiaries?

The circumstances change: multiple heirs, fragmented ownership, increasingly complex properties, capital requirements, redevelopment opportunities, and housing and community pressures.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"So the question evolves."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Not: Should we sell?"}]

But: How can we make the asset more productive while preserving long-term family ownership?

How do we responsibly deploy what we have for the next generation?

Perhaps the next evolution is to think of family land not simply as an asset to hold, but as a form of Neighborhood Capital — capital capable of participating in the long-term development of the communities around it.

That brings me back to my two-decade frustration at the start of every Hawaiʻi vacation.

What happens when Hawaiʻi's greatest untapped economic asset is not the monthly visitor count but what already exists in family balance sheets across the Islands?

Most importantly, what could Neighborhood Capital mean for Kalihi-Pālama, a historically overlooked community strategically sited between the airport and Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi's economic engine?

If the capital and the land are already here, why aren't we seeing more large-scale, locally rooted development?

Perhaps Hawaiʻi does not have a shortage of capital, land, or expertise.

What it may lack is a process for bringing them together — patiently, professionally and at a neighborhood scale.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":" "},{"type":"text","text":" "}]

This is the inaugural column in Ray Tsuchiyama’s series exploring one central question: How does Hawai‘i use the wealth and land it already has to create its next economic future? He can be reached at 

Oahu neighborhoods homes i Stock

<title>Hawaiʻi’s next billion-dollar industry is not tourism — it is capital stewardship</title>

Everyday people in Hawaii‘i are, collectively, sitting on a vast source of wealth, mainly real estate. As Guild Consulting's real estate and finance expert Ray Tsuchiyama explains, the Islands' next big challenge — and opportunity — could be putting this wealth to work at the neighborhood level for positive change.

Hawaiʻi’s next billion-dollar industry is not tourism — it is capital stewardship

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

There was a time when neon signs were all over the place in Honolulu, and indeed pretty much all over the world. Today they are rare to nearly nonexistent, and they mostly evoke memories of the middle decades of the 20th century. What is neon? What made it popular, and why did it go away?

First, scientifically, neon is a rare gas which is naturally present in a small amount in earth’s atmosphere; it was first identified as an element in 1898. A French inventor, Georges Claude, discovered that if pure neon gas enclosed in an airtight glass enclosure was electrified, it would give off a bright orange-red glow. In 1912 Claude’s company, using this technology, began manufacturing the first neon advertising signs. (Although known just as “neon signs” they did, in fact, use other gases as well to produce different colors.) After coming into use in France, the first such electric signs were displayed in the USA in the early 1920s (said to specifically have been by a Los Angeles car dealership in 1923), and Americans immediately took to these amazing and striking new lights that soon would dramatically alter downtown streets by night.

Initially, the Claude Neon company registered patents in the United States for specific processes that they used in their manufacturing process. From this fact they implied that they alone were the only authorized makers of neon signs and that all competitors were potentially in legal violation of their patents. In Honolulu, as neon was first promoted to customers in 1928-1929, two competing sign companies (with confusingly similar names) that represented two manufacturers mildly battled about this in their ads. The Electric Shop, licensed by Claude Neon through a California company, stated the former “controls the neon sign patents in America” and that customers must “Beware of Imitations.” Meanwhile the Electric Supply Company, agent for QRS Neon, said it would protect customers from claims of patent infringement if any such arose.

The Electric Shop was the first to offer neon signs in Hawaii, but under cumbersome restrictions. Such signs were not sold to customers but only could be leased for three years, requiring monthly payments, with the option to extend the lease at half price after that. Meanwhile the Electric Supply Co. boasted that it sold signs outright, which probably was more attractive to buyers. The Electric Shop started things off in a big way in February 1928 by installing 33 neon signs on both Standard Oil gas stations (13 of them) and Shell stations (20 out of the 88 then on O‘ahu). The latter were said to “sparkle with beautiful Neon signs by night” in a newspaper ad on May 1, 1928. By July of the following year, some of the Honolulu businesses with neon included the Benson Smith Drug Store, Manufacturer’s Shoes, Hub Clothing, Henry May & Co. groceries, and two of the Consolidated Amusements movie theaters. By the 1930s, the latter would be adding significant amounts of neon to their theaters’ marquees and facades.

Into the 1960s, neon would be a growth industry locally. For sign companies, neon could be financially lucrative since the fragile glass tubes that created the colorful glows required constant care and maintenance. Not only could these be broken, either by mistake or intentionally by vandals, they also tended to gradually flicker or go out completely through damaged electrical connections. Signs that blinked in successive patterns would eventually go out of whack as well. And since neon was almost always mounted high up on poles or the fronts of buildings, intentionally out of reach of the public, servicing it required climbing ladders or using other mechanical means of getting to it.

All this trouble meant that customers increasingly began to choose cheaper and less problematic signs made from plastic panels illuminated from behind by fluorescent light bulbs. And as these replaced neon, the exacting technique of bending the thin glass tubes into the required shapes of letters or other designs by holding them over a very hot flame like a bunsen burner was gradually lost by the experts who once had done this work.

During the 1930s neon was mostly perceived as being a colorful and lively part of urban areas, but by the late 1940s its reputation began to slip. In detective novels and Hollywood’s famous “film noir” crime dramas, neon instead began to symbolize the sleazy parts of cities where dangerous things happened and bad guys ran wild. In Hawaii specifically, neon began to be criticized in the 1950s. Don Beachcomber, restauranteur and eventual developer of the International Market Place, advocated that all neon be banished from Waikīkī since Kalākaua Avenue was “already taking on the aspects of any mainland street at night.” A visiting ad agency executive from Minnesota warned “... for heaven’s sake, don’t make [Hawai‘i] a neon paradise and over-commercialize it." A visitor from Connecticut wrote in a newspaper letter in 1956: “Everywhere neon signs! What has happened to the people of Hawai‘i that such desecration is permitted?” But at the same time a spokesman for a group of neon dealers countered that such signs “tend to aid crime prevention” (??) and that “many tourists have inquired why Honolulu doesn’t have huge sign displays like New York’s Times Square or Florida’s Miami Beach.” (Dubious).

In the end, it wasn’t a bad reputation that brought neon’s reign to an end; it was just cost, fragility and changing technology. A revival of interest and appreciation for neon began in the 1970s but this of itself was not enough to keep its use at the level of decades past. The incredibly specialized training necessary to bend the glass tubing into complex shapes stopped and those capable of doing it died off, and eventually LEDs replaced it with equally bright colors and even more changing patterns. While neon will, it’s hoped, always survive in some fashion, never again will Hawaiian skies be as widely lit by its glow as in the 20th century.

1 Neon montage ca 55 16x9

<title>Neon, its birth and death in Hawai‘i</title>

Bright, colorful neon signs debuted in the Islands nearly a century ago, with literal Hollywood glamor — the Waikīkī, Kūhiō and other movie palaces used them. Restaurants and small businesses of all kinds went for neon, too. Over time, they became associated with dive bars and the bad side of town. ASD history writer DeSoto Brown revisits and the highs and lows of this distinctly 20th-century form of advertising.

Neon, its birth and death in Hawai‘i

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

[{"type":"text","text":"This Kapahulu eatery specializes in charcoal-grilled skewers."}]

 is soft opening on Saturday, Aug. 15; it’s in the former space of Yakitori Glad. The modern Chinese tavern features quality meats that are grilled over charcoal to achieve a smoky flavor.

We’re told “enkari” refers to smoke and fire in Chinese; this restaurant is similar to a Japanese izakaya, but features Northeastern Chinese cuisine.

Skewers are priced a la carte. Choose from options like chicken thigh (two pieces for $8), spicy beef (two pieces for $9), chicken skin (two pieces for $7), pork belly ($4) and lamb ($4).

There are assorted spices like chili powder and barbecue seasoning customers can use to dip the skewers in.

The eatery also features shareable appetizers — ranging from unique options like braised duck head ($6) and braised duck wings ($12) to marinated crawfish tails ($12) and marinated edamame ($5) — and teppanyaki-style dishes like Northeast Chinese-style grilled cold noodles ($12). This dish comprises a flat sheet of noodles cooked on a hot grill, resulting in a chewy texture.

Customers can also opt for clay pot specialties like the eatery’s spicy hot pot ($16) and seafood rice soup ($22).

Enkari also offers housemade shave ice in flavors like peach or watermelon for dessert.

The restaurant will be open from 5 p.m. to midnight every day except Wednesdays. The biz is still waiting for its liquor license, and is aiming to celebrate its grand opening in late August or early September.

Street parking is available; customer parking is also available in the paid public lot behind the restaurant.

Open 5 p.m. to midnight Thursdays to Tuesdays (closed Wednesdays)

Enkari beef skewers 081026

<title>New skewers spot opening in Honolulu</title>

Enkari, a modern Chinese tavern, is soft opening on Aug. 15 in the Kapahulu neighborhood. The eatery is known for its charcoal-grilled skewers; choose from pork belly, lamb, chicken thigh and more. Enkari will be open from 5 p.m. to midnight every day except Wednesdays.

New skewers spot opening in Honolulu

 — which has locations in Japan and California — is bringing is signature Japanese kissaten-style café experience to Honolulu for a limited time.

The pop-up will be open to the public starting at 10 a.m. Aug. 13, according to Takuma Lathrop, president of Dining Innovation West. It’s located in an enclosed section of TsuruTonTan, which is located in Royal Hawaiian Center.

“We’re friends with the owners of the brand in Japan,” says Lathrop. “They opened in California and we went to check it out; we started talking about the possibility of partnering up.”

Right now, there is no set end date for the pop-up, but Lathrop says it should be open for at least one month. To start, the pop-up will be open to the first 60 customers — no reservations accepted; first-come, first-served — but Lathrop says its hours will eventually be extended.

“As soon as we feel more comfortable to handle more people, we’ll get to a point where there won’t be a limit,” he says. “We just want to make sure we are making the best possible dishes correctly so everyone can enjoy the taste.”

Takagi Coffee is known for its handcrafted, made-to-order souffle pancakes and freshly roasted coffee. The Honolulu pop-up’s menu is more limited, compared to the brand’s California and Japan locations, but will still feature signature dishes, according to Lathrop.

The coffee menu features a house blend ($5), cold brew ($6) and lattes ($7). Customers can also choose from several hot or iced matcha lattes ($7-$9). The matcha cream ($2 add-on) comes highly recommended for the iced matcha lattes.

Souffle pancakes come with toppings like strawberry, mango and matcha (two pieces for $17, four pieces for $22). In addition to your fruit of choice, pancakes are topped with whipped cream, cookie crumbles and vanilla ice cream.

A savory option (two pieces for $18, three pieces for $23) — topped with thick-cut bacon, sunny side-up eggs and hollandaise — is also available. 

“Personally, I like savory things; the savory pancake is really good,” Lathrop says. “It’s surprisingly very hearty and good for people who aren’t super into sweets.”

The pop-up also features Yoshoku (Japanese-style Western dishes) plates, which are served with miso soup.

Choose from omurice ($19), tonkatsu with rice ($20) and wagyu hamburger steak ($22).

The omurice features a more traditional version, according to Lathrop. The Japanese tomato-flavored rice comprises bacon, onions and mushrooms, and is enrobed with a fluffy egg and topped with demi-glace sauce.

The hamburger steak features American wagyu beef and is served with rice and miso soup. The demi-glace is served on the side, so customers can add as much or as little as they want.

Customers can opt for the tonkatsu plate or the katsu sando ($16), which features pork cutlet, veggies, mustard mayonnaise and katsu sauce between pieces of Japanese bread. It’s served with wedge fries on the side.

Customers can also look forward to Japanese-style parfaits ($13), which are layered with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, cornflakes and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"Choose from matcha, fresh strawberries and coffee jelly."}]

The pop-up might add dishes to the menu as time goes on, according to Lathrop, who encourages customers to follow the business on Instagram for updates.

“It’s simple dishes, but executed with very high-quality ingredients,” he says. “Because we’re slowly rolling out, we want to make sure that we can give everybody a good experience.”

Open from 10 a.m. Aug. 13; limited to 60 customers per day (to start)

Takagi Coffee Takuma Lathrop 081026

<title>Takagi Coffee is a new Japanese-style cafe pop-up in Honolulu</title>

The pop-up is opening to the public on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 10 a.m. It’s within Royal Hawaiian Center’s TsuruTonTan, and for the first few days, the pop-up will be limited to the first 60 customers. Takagi Coffee is serving up sweet and savory Japanese souffle pancakes, omurice, wagyu hamburger steak and layered parfaits.

Takagi Coffee is a new Japanese-style cafe pop-up in Honolulu

Fun fact: Selling homemade cinnamon rolls was not 

While the business is currently known for its warm, fluffy rolls, Jasmine “Jaz” Milam, who co-owns Hele Rolls with Brittany “Kawai” Lopez, remembers she started out with doughnuts.

“It was doughnuts to begin with; I’m no good at doughnuts and I already knew that, but I think she (Lopez) really likes doughnuts,” Milam says. “After a couple weeks, I was like, doughnuts are not working.”

Milam, who always loved baking, remembers making homemade cinnamon rolls regularly when she was deployed.

“I was making homemade cinnamon rolls every Sunday to share with my fellow service members,” she says. “It became a tradition that brought everyone together, and seeing how something as simple as a warm cinnamon roll could create that sense of comfort and connection has always stayed with me.”

Milam suggested featuring cinnamon rolls for Hele Rolls’ main product and, long story short, they quickly became a hit.

“Cinnamon rolls felt like the perfect fit,” she says. “They’re nostalgic, comforting, and have a way of bringing people together, which is exactly what we hope every customer experiences when they enjoy one of our rolls.”

Hele Rolls officially launched last June, shortly after Milam’s father died. The business was created as a way to honor his legacy and the values he believed in, especially the idea of food having the power to bring people together.

The business’s name pays tribute to Hele Nui, the food truck Milam’s father previously operated.

“Everyone says it (the business name) should be Jaz’s cinnamon rolls, and I didn’t want my name on it,” Milam says. “All of a sudden, it came to me — his food truck’s name was Hele Nui, so what about Hele Rolls? It’s using his name, but kind of paving my own path, carrying his legacy forward.

“Now, I tell everybody, this started off as a side hustle, but it’s turned into so much more,” she adds. “I have a legacy that I’m trying to continue with my dad. It’s more than just making cinnamon rolls for some extra cash; it’s making him, my family and my community proud.”

The family-operated business accepts pre-orders and pops up at various events across O

ahu, such as the Taste of Aloha Night Market at NEX and What the Truck?! in Waikele. The business’s first What the Truck?! market was recent, and Hele Rolls sold out of its cinnamon rolls in 45 minutes, according to Milam.

“I had about 220 to 240 rolls at What the Truck?!,” she says. “Taste of Aloha was the most I’ve done at a market; it was a little more than 300.”

All cinnamon rolls are handmade in small batches, according to Milam, who says the business focuses on creating that soft, fluffy texture and homemade frostings.

While the business’s original cinnamon roll continues to be a bestseller, it also offers specialty flavors which change every month, according to Milam. Previous specialty flavors include strawberry shortcake, chocolate haupia, ube and Oreo. In July, the business featured Oreo and lemon blueberry cinnamon rolls.

“We love keeping our menu fresh with rotating flavors inspired by Hawai

i, classic desserts and seasonal favorites,” Milam says. “One of our favorite things is challenging people’s expectations of what a cinnamon roll can be. They can be familiar, nostalgic and comforting — or completely unexpected.

“Lemon blueberry had our housemade blueberry compote, our icing, homemade whipped cream, fresh blueberries, lemon zest and blueberry shortcake, which is like cookies with freeze-dried blueberries,” she adds. “The Oreo one was like a cookies and cream. Our menu rotates regularly, so there’s always something new to discover. We put a lot of heart into everything we make.”

At markets, customers can buy individual cinnamon rolls or get sample packs, which include two original rolls and two specialty flavors. If customers pre-order, only packs are available. At markets, original cinnamon rolls cost $6 each; specialty flavors cost $8 each.

When asked about her favorite cinnamon roll flavors, Milam says she likes her kūlolo one — “I still need to perfect it a little bit more” — and also recommends the haupia flavor, which features original icing, toasted macadamia nuts and coconut shavings. 

Besides pop-up events and accepting pre-orders, the biz also offers catering for private parties, corporate events and celebrations. Customers can opt for the full-sized cinnamon rolls or the business’s Cinni-Maninis, or bite-sized cinnamon rolls.

Hele Rolls wasn’t even a year old when the biz was asked to participate in Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.”

“One day, we were making cinnamon rolls; I was in the kitchen, and Kawai yelled my name,” Milam remembers. “It wasn’t a panic yell; it was more of an excited yell. I came to her, and she said, ‘Look at this.’ It was a casting agent who reached out to us through Instagram. Obviously, like everyone else, we thought it was Spam.”

“We thought it was Spam for sure, but we were like, ‘Who knows, let’s just take a chance,’” Lopez says.

Hele Rolls responded to the message, the agent got back to them, and from there, “it just snowballed,” according to Milam.

That was earlier this spring; Hele Rolls left to compete on “The Great Food Truck Race” in April. Hosted by Tyler Florence, this season follows eight food truck teams from across the country, as they travel through the Great Smoky Mountains. The winning team gets a $50,000 grand prize. Previous show episodes can be viewed on HBO Max.

Keeping the competition a secret was a huge challenge, especially since Hele Rolls has regular customers.

“We couldn’t tell anyone,” Milam says. “On Instagram, we said, ‘This is our last pick-up and preorder until further notice;’ we didn’t know how long we were going to be there. Our regular customers were like, ‘What are you doing? Are you done?’ It was crazy to see all of that play out.”

The current season of “The Great Food Truck Race” premiered on July 26. The teams started in Nashville, according to Milam, who still remembers the first day of filming.

“We were so starstruck because we knew what we were doing there; everybody was looking at us,” she says. “It was insane; I will never forget that feeling.”

Hele Rolls usually pops up in tents at events; the business currently doesn’t operate out of a food truck, though that’s a future goal. Creating new friendships with other cast members and competing teams was one of the highlights of being on the show, according to Lopez.

“Though it was a competition, at the end of the day, we respected one another and cherished that experience as a whole,” she says. “We got a lot of different advice from everybody, their companies and their brands. A lot of them were more experienced in business; we’re freshly new in business. It was a lot to soak in, and also a chance for us to really be OK with being ourselves.”

[{"type":"text","text":"For Milam, being on the show instilled a newfound sense of confidence."}]

“This show has given me the ability to see the worth in ourselves,” she says. “All these people believed in me and believed in us. Being selected to compete on Season 19 of Food Network’s 

has been an unforgettable experience and an incredible opportunity to represent Hawai

“We continue to stay humble, but we’re so proud at the same time,” Lopez adds. “I think the best thing to do is to take a chance on yourself. You never know what can come out of any experience.”

As the business heads into its second year of operation, Milam and Lopez are focused on new goals for Hele Rolls. Milam — now running Hele Rolls full-time — says they would eventually love to own their own food truck and have a storefront.

“We’ve done so much in year one that we never thought was even possible,” Milam says. “We’ve been so blessed in one year — all these things that happened to us.”

She remembers when one of her first goals — in the business’s early days — was just to “have a line.”

“That’s all we wanted — two to three people,” she laughs. “A line means people are willing to sacrifice their time to stand in line for us and for our product. Having a storefront would be (amazing) because I know I can pump out more for them and it would be better quality; that’s always the goal.”

Being involved with the community is also important to the Hele Rolls team, who is always looking for ways they can support Hawai

“We want to be known not just for cinnamon rolls; we want to be known as a business that’s supporting our community,” Milam says. “If somebody needs something, I want Hele Rolls to be in the front of people’s minds. It’s literally about family, food and community.”

No matter what the future holds, staying true to themselves and maintaining the brand’s mission is essential, according to Milam.

“Beyond the cinnamon rolls themselves, I think what truly makes Hele Rolls unique is the experience,” she says. “From the very beginning, we’ve wanted every customer to feel like they’re part of our ‘ohana. That sense of connection is just as important to us as the product we serve.”

“We’re incredibly grateful for the support our community has shown us over the past year,” Milam adds. “As a women-owned, LGBTQ+-owned and family-powered business, it means so much to see people embrace not only our cinnamon rolls, but also the story and values behind Hele Rolls. We wouldn’t be here without our amazing ‘ohana and community, and we can’t wait to share what’s next.”

For updates and information, follow the biz on 

Hele Rolls The Great Food Truck Race credit Food Network 080526

<title>Oʻahu-based family business is 'on a roll'</title>

Hele Rolls, known for its homemade cinnamon rolls, started its business last June. The biz regularly pops up at events across Oʻahu and accepts pre-orders. Hele Rolls is also competing on the new season of Food Network’s "The Great Food Truck Race," which premiered on July 26.

Oʻahu-based family business is 'on a roll'

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen’s former chief of staff has sued the county over alleged corruption claims that implicate the mayor himself.

According to a lawsuit filed Friday in Maui’s Second Circuit Court, Leo Caires — Bissen’s chief of staff between 2022 and 2024 — has accused the county of forcing him out of his job in December 2024 because he had discovered fraudulent activity within the county Office of Economic Development.

While the suit does not name Bissen as a defendant — the defendants include the county and several unspecified “John Doe” individuals and organizations — the text of the suit suggests that Bissen had attempted to halt investigations by Caires into cases of fraud by county staff, and had Caires fired when that failed.

The suit claims that, beginning in March 2024, Caires was informed by the county’s Corporation Counsel of a series of suspicious transactions connected to a grant awarded by the OED. Within those transactions, Caires found an invoice for more than $45,000 from a company called “RTFEX Depot,” along with a series of unverifiable transactions between Bissen’s executive assistant.

The suit identifies that assistant only through the initials MA and the nickname “Pono.” In 2024, a Pono Asano was Bissen’s executive assistant.

According to the suit, Caires could find no evidence that RTFEX Depot was a real company, and, despite the business supposedly being based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Arizona Corporation Commission told him no such business was registered in that state.

Consequently, Caires concluded that the assistant “Pono” and the recipient of the grant — identified in the suit only as “AVS” — submitted false cashiers’ checks made out to a false company to defraud the OED.

But when Caires reported the incident to Bissen, the plot thickened. After Caires issued a notice to Bissen on March 19, 2024, that he wished to interview “Pono” for an internal investigation, the lawsuit claims that Bissen “indicated that he did not want anything to do with the Notice and appeared agitated by it.”

A month later, Caires — now strongly suspicious that “Pono” and other staff in the Mayor’s Office had conspired to embezzle more than $45,000 from the county — reiterated to Bissen that an investigation should be made.

According to the suit, “Mayor Bissen got upset at Mr. Caires and ordered him to stop the investigation.”

Bissen allegedly did not fire “Pono” but reassigned him to a position in the OED, which “baffled” Caires. Only after Caires raised objections did “Pono” resign from the county.

During this time, Caires claims his duties as chief of staff were being reduced: he claims he was removed from major meetings and events, and his communications with Bissen dwindled from daily conversations to “infrequent check-ins.”

In May, Bissen told Caires the chief of staff position would be eliminated altogether for budgetary reasons, and Caires would be reassigned as the county’s Energy Commissioner, the suit states. However, the suit also claims that, after Caires was demoted to Energy Commissioner in October, Bissen then promoted “CL” to take his place, having evidently not eliminated the chief of staff position after all.

But during the “Pono” investigation, Caires also grew suspicious of the OED’s director at the time — Luana Mahi, although the lawsuit only identifies her with the initials “LM.”

Caires believed Mahi was using her position to award grants to family members, after reportedly finding a grant awarded to a business with clear ties to her husband, son and her own prior employment history.

But despite again raising these concerns with Bissen, the mayor did not share his concerns, and eventually directed Caires to sign off on the suspicious grant. The suit claims that Caires “felt intimidated” by this, and that Bissen responded, “There is nothing wrong with this.”

The county Board of Ethics later found a conflict of interest between Mahi and at least one OED grant, leading her to be placed on paid leave in August 2024.

Caires’ own county career ended shortly afterward. In September 2024, Caires’ began taking intermittent medical leave “due to conditions he developed stemming from the retaliatory acts from the County and Mayor Bissen,” the suit claims.

Upon returning from leave around Dec. 23, 2024, Caires found a termination letter from Bissen on his desk, dated Dec. 18, 2024. The letter allegedly read, in part, “You have served as Energy Commissioner since May 2024, but I have not observed the level of expertise, management skills, attention to detail, or enthusiasm for energy efficiency required to ensure the success of these initiatives."

Consequently, the suit accuses Bissen’s office of violating the Hawai‘i Whistleblowers’ Protection Act and of wrongful termination. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory, punitive and other damages.

Caires’ attorney Joe Rosenbaum said the suit has not yet been served to the county and other defendants. However, last year the Maui County Council approved 

 — the firm Marr Jones and Wang LLLP — for pre-litigation responses to Caires' claims, to the tune of $350,000.

“I think [the suit] proves there are employees within county governments who are willing to stand up to corruption even if it costs them their jobs,” Rosenbaum told Aloha State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"A statement from Bissen's office called Caires' allegations inaccurate."}]

The concerns he raises were identified by others at the time, and we reject any attempt to revise history," the statement read. 

“I made significant efforts to support his success, including mentorship, training, and an opportunity to continue serving as Energy Commissioner based on his prior experience,” read Bissen's statement. “Lahaina’s recovery placed extraordinary demands on everyone in public service. Ultimately, it came down to an inability to meet the expectations required. As Mayor, I have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure our team delivers for the people of Maui County. That responsibility requires making difficult decisions. I stand firmly behind the decision that was made, and I am confident it was the right one for our community. I am disappointed it has come to this.”

Mayor Bissen Getty Images 1595220331 16x9

<title>Former Maui chief of staff sues county over alleged corruption</title>

Leo Caires, Mayor Richard Bissen's former chief of staff, has accused the county of firing him unjustly after investigating multiple fraud cases within the county government.

Daily Smile: Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

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Daily Smile: Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

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Daily Smile: Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

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