Maui Weekly | Thursday, August 28, 2008 | Scott Broadbent
KCA reorganized to plan and implement projects, improve the environment and inform citizens to develop a firm vision of the future and make sure “Kihei’s voice is heard.”
Concerned that their six committees were becoming unwieldy, the Board of Directors of the Kihei Community Association (KCA) has established three “Super Committees” to deal with issues confronting the community in the coming year.
With the addition of six new members and the election of new officers, the board hopes to streamline procedures to plan and implement projects, provide important feedback to county and state government on community needs, improve our environment and inform citizens about issues affecting South Maui.
Members of the Services, Public Relations and Design Review Committees presented their priorities for the coming year at the KCA meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15. The presentations were followed by separate roundtable sessions during which attendees were invited to ask questions and share their concerns and issues.
The new slate of officers was announced: Jon Miller will serve as president; Mike Moran and Bob Richardson, vice presidents; Michael DiBella, secretary; and Jim Kerr as treasurer.
Bob Richardson summarized the goals of the Services Committee as dealing with “parks, schools, volunteerism and the environment.” New board member Andrew Beerer explained his role as a liaison with the Parks and Police Departments and the Kalama Park Action Team. Beerer is also involved with construction of the new playground and trail at Kalama Park. He detailed additional needs identified by the committee as “lobbying the County Council for money and funding, being persistent in seeing projects through to completion,” and the implementation of future community workdays.
For the first time, students from the Kihei Charter High School have been elected to serve on the KCA board, which, members say, will bring a new perspective to the association. Tammy Makanalani Corden and Kuilani Elaban plan to organize efforts to paint over graffiti and to work to repair and maintain Kihei parks.
Richardson will continue his work with the Kihei Youth Center, the Charter School and on coastal trails. Roya Deyhim will lead an effort to register voters for the upcoming elections and Mike Moran will focus on improving our environment.
Moran handed out free cloth grocery bags made of recycled materials to attendees, who signed a pledge to utilize the bags as alternatives to plastic grocery bags. “These bags are a step in the right direction to reduce the number of plastic bags fouling our land,” he said.
The Services Committee is rounded out by Miller and newly elected board member Gail Weaver.
Another new board member, Laura Marzke, introduced members of the Public Relations Committee and described their primary roles as “increasing fundraising and membership.” Jefferson Stillwell outlined several initiatives to increase membership, including a summer fundraising event and development of a “goodie bag” featuring items and coupons from local businesses to be awarded to new members. Joseph Bean, culture and government editor for the Maui Weekly, announced plans for a new electronic newsletter and Maury King invited local businesses to provide items for goodie bags, which, in return, would receive recognition on the KCA Website and other promotional materials. Additional Public Relations Committee members include Past President David Frazier, Jim Kerr, Moran and Miller.
Members of the Design Review Committee presented their primary goal to “develop a firm vision of the Kihei of the future.” DiBella said that a good approach is to “focus on new development projects coming into Kihei, review presentations from the developers and provide information about integrating their projects into the community.”
Don Couch and Rep. Joe Bertram III will continue to interface with the Planning Department, and the committee will represent Kihei regarding the County General Plan, the open space master plan, and will seek funds from the state to continue the coastal trail. The group will strive to be certain “Kihei’s voice is heard.” Additional Design Review Committee members are County Councilwoman Michelle Anderson and Marzke.
Miller closed the presentation portion of the meeting by showing a number of slides depicting urban blight, strip malls and busy traffic corridors. “This is what we want to avoid,” he said. Slides of pedestrian malls, landscaped traffic roundabouts and green bicycle paths followed. “This is what we want to see happen. We need to see development projects in advance and have the ability to tweak them to fit our idea and vision.”
Miller also thanked past President David Frazier for his commitment to KCA and the accomplishments achieved during his term.
The public is invited to attend the next KCA meeting, which will be held Tuesday, Feb. 19, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Kihei Community Center on Lipoa Street.
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