COUNTY COUNCIL VOTES FOR LEE AS CHAIR IN 2020

Historic Chair Change AFTER ONE YEAR stuns the community, and they tell the Council so at the meeting.

12/30/19 #kihei
As this matter has already been extensively covered in the media, on Akaku (live & frequent replays) as well as print and online media, we’ll just touch on a few matters as we had four directors at the hearing and did offer oral testimony.

We counted 33 testifiers, only 1 of them a compensated lobbyist, and he was one of very few who did NOT address this matter. The vast majority who did address it spoke in favor of Kelly King. In spite of this overwhelming public outcry, you saw 7 council members voted for a new chair starting in January.

The testifiers were from all over the islands and offered a wide variety of reasons. We captured the majority as they addressed the Council in the photos below.

So we will just offer a few observations of overall testimony as well as some individual comments we heard after the meeting adjourned.

Most seemed to agree that in 2019 the County Council accomplished more in a single year that prior ones did in two years. So one testifier asked if your team wins the super bowl, do you then fire the coach?

Another strongly chastised the Council for childish petty behavior instead of addressing the over all welfare of the community… and said “and I was her opponent in the election and lost”!

We did see one newspaper report state one individual called out after the vote, “Shame on this Council.” In fact we have many calling out “Shame”, and many testifiers doing the same.

But as we walked down the steps from the 8^th floor we heard one wahine ask another what she was going to do that evening. She replied first I am going to shower off this slime!