Local media coverage on one item in Council Committee meeting

9/3/22 #kihei

Media reports on the Thursday (9/1) County Council Planning and Sustainable Land Use (PSLU) committee meeting concerning the State Department of Education (DOE) not responding to their request to participate regarding the required annual compliance report before the county panel.

Civil Beat   https://www.civilbeat.org/?p=1512338&utm_source=Civil+Beat+Master+List&utm_campaign=32f841bbc1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_09_02_04_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51c2dd3cf3-32f841bbc1-401739077&mc_cid=32f841bbc1&mc_eid=6de9dc9be9

Maui Now     https://mauinow.com/2022/09/01/department-of-education-a-no-show-at-committee-meeting-about-new-kihei-high-school/

Maui News  https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2022/09/tussle-over-high-schools-crossing-drags-on/ 

How unusual to have so much media coverage of a single agenda item in a single Council Committee meeting on a matter beyond the Council’s control.  Might this be due to a state agency refusing to follow a legal process? Or maybe because DOE simply ignored a panel of elected officials? Or maybe due to nearly a decade of inaction threatening the safety of Maui’s keiki? All of these and more?

This bloated state agency, paid to educate our children, is giving a lesson that some well paid bureaucrats are above the law. Without any good reason, they have ignored the requirement for a grade separated (over or under) pedestrian access to the school. Some say it is a sick game of chicken, that if all entities do not bend to their will, they will finally offer a new high school in Kihei, albeit without students.