Proposal would change the way council elected

The Maui News
Sunday, August 16, 2009

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer

KULA - A group of residents is hoping to gain traction for a proposal to amend the Maui County Charter in a way they say will make representation on the County Council more equitable and more open to new blood.

The Kula Community Association voted to propose a plan to divvy up the County Council districts so they're in line with the county's three state Senate districts.

However, former council member and current state Sen. J. Kalani English of Hana said the idea could quite easily have the unintended consequence of leaving the much less populous isles of Lanai and Molokai - or the town of Hana - without a resident on the County Council.

The Kula Community Association presented its proposal last week to Mayor Charmaine Tavares and Council Chairman Danny Mateo, who holds the Molokai residency seat and gave it a cool reception. But the amendment's biggest obstacle on the way to passage might be the County Charter itself.

A Charter amendment requires either a supermajority vote by County Council members or a petition signed by at least 20 percent of the 85,197 voters registered for the 2008 general election in order to get a spot on the next public ballot in 2010 - and then it would have to win. But Dick Mayer, an association board member who helped inspire the Kula proposal, said the association hoped to see council leadership agree to hear the proposal.

Under the plan, the council would continue to have nine members, but each county resident would get to vote only for three candidates from their district in the general election.

Each candidate would be required to live in one of Maui County's three state senatorial districts, the 4th, 5th and 6th. The community association's plan would establish the Central District, comprising Wailuku, Kahului, Waihee and Waikapu; the Leeward District, with West Maui and South Maui; and, finally, the Rural District, with Upcountry, East Maui, Lanai and Molokai.

Under the current system, all county residents vote for all nine council seats. However, each candidate faces off against another challenger who lives in his or her residency district: Lanai, Molokai, East Maui, Wailuku-Waikapu-Waihee, Kahului, West Maui, Upcountry or Makawao-Paia-Haiku.

The current system is considered a hybrid and was put into place in 1991, said Maui County Clerk Roy Hiraga. He said he believes it was instituted in order to create permanent districts that would not have to be readjusted every 10 years with the U.S. Census, as the population changed.

Two of the County Council's members, Sol Kaho'ohalahala who holds the Lanai residency seat and Wayne Nishiki of South Maui, might find the measure noteworthy.

Both men returned to their former residency seats in January after spending time out of office - Kahoohalahala for another political opportunity, and Nishiki after running into term limits. And while both defeated their at-large opponents in the November general election by resounding margins, they both lost in their home precincts.

"I've been thinking about this for several years," Mayer said. "I have no political motivation at all for this, other than I think it would be a better way to represent the county's residents."

Nishiki and Kaho'ohalahala could not be reached for comment.

Mateo said he hasn't read the proposal yet but said his initial thought is that Hana, Molokai and Lanai could lose representation because the 6th Senate District's population is concentrated in Upcountry.

"They'd be disenfranchised," he said.

English hasn't seen the proposal either but went further, saying that the proponents of the change are missing the point of the current system. Each council member now represents all of Maui County under the "one person, one vote" principle. And it's good for a candidate or member to get out and see the entire county and its people, English said.

Meanwhile, places like Lanai, with a population of 3,000, and Molokai, with 7,200 people, still get their own council members, who should understand their concerns intimately, English said.

Mayer said that Molokai and Lanai have a long tradition of fielding strong candidates, and that should continue. Mayer noted that the most recent council chairmen, including Mateo and right before him Riki Hokama, have come from Molokai and Lanai.

For years, Central Maui has been the kingmaker since it has the highest concentration of registered voters, although South Maui may be gaining, Mayer said.

"With this amendment, a region would have three representatives instead of just one, and I think that will help them," Mayer said. "There's no guarantee that someone from Lanai and Molokai would get elected, but with transportation and technology improvements, such as Akaku televising council meetings, the gap between the islands has closed a lot in the last generation."

It would also make it easier for bright newcomers or people who have been around awhile but only involved in their own communities to get elected, Mayer said.

Mayer did later go on to point out how Kaho'ohalahala and Nishiki were elected into office by people other than the majority of their own neighbors.

Some Lanai residents also have gone as far as to file challenges with the county and the courts disputing Kaho'ohala's claim of Lanai residency, since the Lanai native has physically lived for years in Lahaina.

"The people from Central Maui put someone else in," Mayer said. "I see it not as a question of fairness, but the validity of getting a larger pool of candidates. This way you are guaranteed to get someone from that area, if not from that island."

Council Member Gladys Baisa, who holds the Upcountry residency seat, attended the June 2 Kula Community Association meeting where the measure was approved. She said she hasn't taken a position on the proposal or decided whether she'd introduce it to council.

Baisa said she would like to see a "full and open" community discussion of the issue in order to understand all its possible ramifications.

"Ever since I came into politics I was aware of the controversy," Baisa said. "It's a stretch personally to have to go all over the county and much more expensive. . . . But I need to understand both sides before I make a decision."

To Hiraga's knowledge, no group has ever collected enough signatures to get a Maui County Charter amendment on the ballot, he said. If they don't get a council member to attach his or her name to the initiative and give it a hearing, the group would need to gather the signatures of 17,039 confirmed registered voters to get the initiative on the ballot. Supporters also could collect 10 percent, or 8,520 signatures, of registered voters to ensure that it gets a County Council hearing.

The last option for anyone seeking a Charter amendment is the 11-member Maui County Charter Commission, which meets every 10 years, the next time in 2011. The Charter Commission could vote to put the initiative on the ballot.

* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.

Original article URL: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/522369.html

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