Who was at the Maui Council meeting on Friday (10/4/19)?

 
10/4/19 #kihei
When we hear someone say “ten four” rather than “October 4” for the date, most think, OK, all good, no problem or some other positive reaction. This morning at County Council on this date we were looking for something positive for our district. Too often we see our South Maui district does not get a 10-4, as our community voice goes unheard or not acknowledged. We see it in the County budget’s unfair distribution of capital improvement funds. We see our Community Plan ignored.

Today we took a step we hope can start to rectify some of this concern with the support of our legislator, Council Chair Kelly King.We testified in support of  a “South Maui Advisory Committee” (SMAC) to the Maui Planning Commission. This would set up a voluntary group of residents of South Maui from Maalaea to Makena to conduct evening meetings within our area, open to the public, to receive presentations from developers. This volunteer group would then advise the Maui Planning Commission of the local perspective on proposed developments in South Maui.

We were only one of three (Scott & Kai) who spoke in support;  there was no opposition, most likely because the vast majority were there to testify on the Makila Farms proposed housing project on the West side. Testimony extended for almost four hours. After much communication on this very hot bed issue, approval finally was passed 5-4 by the Council in the final vote.

See Maui News for a comprehensive professional report on that matter.

But back to our item, SMAC, which we expected was an automatic yes for referral to Tamara Paltin’s committee. BUT WAIT! A parliamentary concern arose because the item was time stamped 6 minutes after a noon deadline to be placed on today’s agenda, so the Council decided it had to wait a minimum of two weeks until a future Council meeting before any referral action to a committee could proceed. Auwe!