Approval delayed until council able to hear from remaining nominees

March 3, 2011 – By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer for the Maui News

WAILUKU – Nominees for the 2011 Charter Commission were grilled about their opinions on district voting and other issues Wednesday, but a vote to approve them was postponed.

While some nominees have taken a stand on district voting in the past, they said Wednesday they would listen to all sides if the issue came before them as commissioners. On other issues, some nominees said they believed that county government was too large and should operate more efficiently.

Members of the County Council Policy Committee voiced support for the nominations, but a proposal to recommend approval was deferred so the council could hear from two nominees who were not available Wednesday.

Two of Mayor Alan Arakawa’s nominees had previously gone on the record to advocate in favor of district voting – in which council members would be elected by the residents of their district, instead of the current system in which all Maui County residents vote for all council races.

Nominee Dave DeLeon acknowledged he had previously testified on the issue, but he told council members he could “put that aside and be objective.”

“I’m trying very hard not to bring that baggage to the table,” he said.

Instead, he said he would prefer to hear public opinion on the issue.

Some council members expressed concern about his ability to be objective while he remains employed as a director of government affairs for the Realtors Association of Maui. But DeLeon said he had received no direction from the organization about what positions to take as a commissioner.

“I volunteered as a private citizen,” he said.

Council members also questioned retired University of Hawaii Maui College Dean of Instruction Flo Wiger, who has served on the West Maui Working Group on District Voting.

Wiger replied that while she felt the system of at-large council elections needed to change, she did not yet know what model should be brought in to replace the current one. She added that she felt passionately that smaller communities like Lanai, Molokai and Hana, which have raised fears that district voting could reduce their voice on the council, should continue to be represented.

“I do not believe people should be disenfranchised,” she said. “I believe strongly the needs of these communities in some ways are significantly different” from the rest of the county.

She added that she was “really willing” to hear a wide range of ideas on the issue.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lanai’s Linda Kay Okamoto said she would be open to different opinions about district voting, even though residents of the island have raised objections to the proposal.

“Hopefully we’ll have an option that will satisfy everybody’s needs,” she said.

While council members zeroed in on district voting as a key issue, they also questioned nominees about their views about establishing a biannual county budget and four-year council terms.

Nominee and small-business owner Joshua Stone said he would be interested in looking at proposals to help the county operate more efficiently. The current two-year council terms mean newly elected council members start “politicking from day one,” he said.

“Every decision you make is going to be a political decision,” he said. “I would propose a four-year council term.”

DeLeon also said the county should be more efficient.

“I believe we have more laws than we can enforce, and more government than we need,” he said. “Creating a bigger government is not my plan.”

Nominees were also questioned on their views about the charter itself.

Retired 2nd Circuit Judge Artemio Baxa said he believed the Maui County Charter was a “fundamental document,” similar to the U.S. Constitution, and that some issues would be better addressed through legislation than by amending the charter.

“It is not a document that should be easily changed,” he said.

At the same time, Baxa said the charter should be viewed as a “living document” that can be updated when necessary.

Other nominees questioned by the committee Wednesday included Kaanapali Operations Association General Manager Wayne Hedani; former Hana Cultural Center Executive Director Clifford Hashimoto; Maui Economic Development Board program specialist Frank De Rego Jr.; and Na Hale O Maui project manager Susan Moikeha.

Molokai community advocate Stephanie Stacy Crivello and public relations consultant Yuki Lei Sugimura were not available Wednesday and were expected to appear at the committee’s next meeting.

The Charter Commission is formed every 10 years to review the Maui County Charter and recommend changes. Proposed charter amendments are put to voters to decide.