ALLIANCE MEETING DRAWS A CROWD FOR POSSIBLE NEW MAYOR

8/21/17 #kihei At 6:00 PM this evening at Kaunoa, KCA and 5 other community associations heard from two county legislators who voiced potential to go the way of the administration in 2018. First Elle Cochran, then Don Guzman each gave a pitch about aspirations for Maui Mayor, 2018. They have many months to decide, and could even “pull papers” next year to both offices; retain their elected position, as well as the seat for mayor, but at some point need to decide on a single campaign. However they both clearly said they intend to run for mayor. Elle is in her 4^th term ( limit is 5 consecutive), so if she should chose to run for Council successfully in 2018, she would “term out” in 2020, & if she then chose to run for mayor, she’d have to wait two years, as mayor’s term is four years.

For the Alliance, Elle offered several insights, including–

how some department staff come to her (as a Councilmember) for help;

she wants continuity in the administration;

her top three items are finance, planning and infrastructure all ruled by efficiency;

sees a need for ”common sense”;

Don is serving his 3^rd term, and of course has the same choices as Elle does, except he could try to run the table for five consecutive terms, term out in 2022 and be ready for the 2022 election when Mayor’s term 

would be up. But he expressed giving ten years of community service, and fulfilling his present term would be six, so he is looking at one single mayoral term to make his ten year limit, & thus be a one term mayor. He addressed the lack of a “working relationship” between the Council and the administration in his nearly five years at Council.

Don advised he would reach out to all community associations to ask for their three priorities in the next 2-3 years for their specific regions, and how much revenue should be expended for each community. We will be listening for community input so we can offer him a reasonable answer. What are the top three things for South Maui that you would like to see in the County budget?