Redistricting will send English back home to Hana

Reapportionment plan has 9 seats for county

The Maui News
Thursday, October 25, 2001

By MARK ADAMS
Staff Writer

WAILUKU — West Maui is linked with South Maui in the state Senate and gets its own seat in the state House. Molokai and Lanai are connected to East Maui in both the Senate and House. And state Sen. J. Kalani English is moving back to Hana.

The new version of the state reapportionment plan, which gives Maui County six full House seats and three full seats in the Senate, was greeted favorably Wednesday as it headed to the state Reapportionment Commission for initial consideration today.

The preliminary map will then be sent to the Maui Advisory Council, which intends to work with local election officials and the community as it reviews the plan before a public hearing on Maui in late November.

"This was a prize worth fighting for," said advisory council member Madge Schaefer, one of those who worked to sink an initial plan that linked East Maui with Kauai in "canoe" districts. "I'm very happy, and any way you look at it we have one more vote."

Redistricting occurs every 10 years, based on population numbers from the decennial census. Elections will be held in every House and Senate district next year.

David Rosenbrock, project manager for the state Reapportionment Commission, outlined the plan for Maui County in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Maui County's three Senate districts will tentatively look like this:

• The new West Maui/South Maui district stretches from Honokohau to Makena, and includes Kapalua, Kaanapali, Lahaina, Olowalu, Maalaea, Kihei, Wailea and Makena.

• The new East Maui district includes Upcountry communities and Haiku, Hana, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe.

• The redrawn Central Maui district runs along Maui's north shore from Kahakuloa to Kuau and also encompasses Waihee, Waiehu, Wailuku, Kahului, Spreckelsville and Paia.

Highlights of the new House districts in the preliminary plan include:

• West Maui would have its own seat, and no incumbent.

• Molokai, Lanai and Hana would be linked together and joined with Haiku in an East Maui district. Molokai Rep. Ron Davis, whose district now includes Lahaina, would be the incumbent.

• Reps. Joe Souki and Bob Nakasone would be the incumbents in newly configured Wailuku and Kahului districts.

• South Maui would get its own seat, along with a small portion of Ulupalakua. Rep. Chris Halford would be the incumbent.

• Rep. Kika Bukoski would be the incumbent in the Upcountry district that includes the Pukalani, Makawao and Kula areas.

Reaction to the plan Wednesday was uniformly positive.

Senate incumbents were happy with the new districts, which are tentative and subject to adjustment. Even though the current version puts Sen. English and Sen. Jan Buen in the same district, English expects he can move into the new district that includes his family home in Hana.

English now lives in Kuau and Buen lives in Waihee, both in the new Central Maui Senate district. Even though English is a stone's throw from the dividing line between the Central and East Maui districts – Holomua Road, which lies between Mama's Fish House and Hookipa Beach Park – he is looking forward to returning to his family home in Hana and running for the East Maui seat.

"The new plan is good for Maui, and first and foremost that is what I'm concerned with," English said. "It groups areas by their socioeconomic interests."

The rural areas of East Maui, Molokai and Lanai are grouped together, and Haiku and the Upcountry region also are good fits in the Senate district, English said.

"And for me personally, it's ironic, because it allows me to go back to my family home in Hana," he said. "I'm looking forward to returning to my homeland, the place where I was raised."

English said he's been spending a lot of time in Hana, putting his grandparents' affairs in order after their deaths, cleaning up the family home in Hamoa Village and working to address the dengue fever problem.

"I look forward to it, and it's absolutely the best scenario for Maui County," he said.

The current incumbent in the Kihei district is Sen. Avery Chumbley, who also represents part of Kauai in the current canoe district configuration.

He applauded the new preliminary plan.

"It's a complete reversal of not only what I've had for the last eight years, but of what was originally proposed," he said. "This is good news for the people of Maui County."

Chumbley said it makes good sense to link West Maui and South Maui.

"They are the economic engines that drive Maui County," Chumbley said, and the senator who represents them will need to be an advocate for the visitor industry as well as for long-delayed improvements for residents.

Getting rid of canoe districts outside the county makes sense, Chumbley said, and will allow all nine legislators to focus on the "basic island unit."

"This is definitely a significant win for Maui County," Chumbley said.

Sen. Jan Buen agreed, although she said she will be sad to lose Molokai, Lanai and West Maui, which are in her current district.

Buen said she has worked hard on traffic problems in Lahaina and to help Molokai farmers, and said she would continue to work for those constituents.

"It's not like I'm going to forget them," she said.

The new preliminary plan is well thought out, she said, linking areas of similar interest.

"It makes sense to me," she said.

The preliminary maps for the Neighbor Islands will be discussed by the Reapportionment Commission today in Honolulu, with a presentation on the Oahu districts set for Tuesday.

Rosenbrock said the maps should be on the commission Web site – www.hawaiiredistricting.org – by Monday.

The commission staff will then meet with the advisory councils in each county, and the full commission will hold public hearings in each county in November. The Maui County hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 20, with the location yet to be determined.

Schaefer said the Maui Advisory Council intends to meet with the public prior to the official public hearing, and will also meet with county election officials to see how the preliminary plan jibes with established precincts.

The final reapportionment plan should be adopted by early December, establishing the boundaries for new congressional and state legislative districts for the 2002 elections.

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