Best Maui Politics, Community and Environment
Here are the top voted choices for politics and the environment on Maui. We asked you Maui, what politics, what issues are important, and who the top community leaders were on Maui, and you responded with your votes. We tallied up all of your votes and posted them right here. Read on for who you voted Best County Official, Best State Blunder, things like that.
BEST ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE ON MAUI
Cane Burning
Is there a bigger issue than this right now on Maui? Yes, cane burning has been going on for over a century, and yes, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar employs 800 or so people at their Puunene Mill–the last big sugar operation in Hawaii. But tradition and jobs are poor excuses for maintaining what many people on the island consider to be toxic agricultural practices. @Apignataro
49%
Runners Up: Mauna Kea Telescope, 10%; Injection Wells, 4%
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BEST MAUI COUNTY OFFICIAL
Elle Cochran
First elected to the Maui County Council in 2010, Cochran has been a stalwart friend of land preservationists and slow-growthers. She’s lived in Lahaina her whole life and helped found the Save Honolua Coalition. She faced a tough challenger backed by huge developer money in the November election, but easily won reelection. This isn’t the first time MauiTime readers have given her the nod as Best County Official, and we doubt it will be the last. @Apignataro
25%
Runners Up: Alan Arakawa, 21%; Kaniela Ing, 8%; Don Couch, 4%
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BEST POLITICAL ACTIVIST ON MAUI
Summer Starr
Summer Starr has been active in county politics for some years now. She ran unsuccessfully for a state legislative seat back in 2008, but since then has gotten a master’s degree in indigenous politics from UH Manoa and another master’s in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School. Today she works as a policy consultant and legislative coordinator for the Hawaii Center for Food Safety, which advocates for organic farming and against Monsanto and GMOs. @Apignataro
10% Summerstarr.com
Runners Up: Karen Chun, 9%; Walter Ritte, 8%; Tamara Paltin, 6%
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BEST MAUI COUNTY BLUNDER
Not Enforcing GMO Moratorium
I kinda had a feeling this one would break this way. Judging by the reaction we got when we editorialized last year against the GMO moratorium, our readers largely wanted the thing to go through. But the charge that the county didn’t enforce it is bogus–a judge stopped the act in its tracks right after the election so courts could deal with the new law’s myriad lawsuits and countersuits. Which they did by striking down the initiative a few weeks ago as invalid. @Apignataro
25%
Runners Up: Monsanto, 16%; Hawaii, 11%; Arakawa, 5%
Photo: Viriditas/Wikimedia
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BEST STATE BLUNDER ON MAUI
Carleton Ching nomination
Readers couldn’t decide this one to our satisfaction, so I just went ahead and picked one. And it’s an easy one, too: newly elected Governor David Ige–who is a very smart guy–choosing Castle & Cooke lobbyist Carleton Ching to run state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Yes, the state agency tasked with watching over tens of thousands of acres of undeveloped land. Then when public outcry started building, Ige all but handcuffed himself to Ching and dared the Senate–just last year his close colleagues–to vote him down. Then, when it looked like they were going to do exactly that, Ige suddenly reversed course and Ching was out–replaced by longtime land preservationist Suzanne Case, who won easy approval. @Apignataro
Runners Up: GMOs, 9%; Hawaii, 9%; Superferry, 9%; Monsanto, 8%
BEST COMMUNITY NON-PROFIT ON MAUI
Women Helping Women
This isn’t a large organization by any stretch, but the job they do is huge. Women Helping Women does nothing less than providing support and sanctuary for victims of domestic violence. Each year, the organization helps out a couple hundred women and children in Maui County and answers thousands of calls on their 24-hour helpline (808-579-9581). It means a great deal that our readers recognize their efforts. @Apignataro
8% (1935 Main St. #202, Wailuku); 808-242-6600; Womenhelpingwomenmaui.com
Runners Up: Imua Family Services, 8%; Akaku, 7%; Shaka Movement, 7%
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BEST ENVIRONMENTAL NON-PROFIT ON MAUI
Shaka Movement
It’s hard to argue against this one. In the span of just a year or two, this grassroots organization grew to do something no one had ever succeeded in doing before in Maui history: gather enough signatures of registered voters to put an initiative on an election ballot. There is no question they organized huge numbers of people, which in the 2014 election were enough to beat back Monsanto’s millions of dollars in spending. Though voters on the GMO measure largely shunned other races on the ballot, it’s undeniable that they at least voted on something because of Shaka. @Apignataro
15%
Runners Up: Surfrider Foundation, 13%; Pacific Whale Foundation, 8%; Sierra Club, 8%
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BEST POLITICAL SCANDAL ON MAUI
GMOs
You can look at this a number of ways. First, that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) themselves–which are grown on Maui by Monsanto, most famously–are themselves scandalous. Or that the act of getting an initiative that calls for a ban on GMO cultivation in Maui County placed on the 2014 general election ballot was the scandal. Given that the county is fiercely, almost uniformly divided over the issue, there’s no reason to suspect our readers are any different. @Apignataro
34%
Runners Up: Billy Kenoi, 9%; Arakawa, 3%; Taguma, 3%
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BEST SCARIEST PUBLIC FIGURE OF MAUI
Alan Arakawa
We had no idea our readers were Mike White fans (just kidding, but only somewhat). But this is puzzling to us (if no other reason than that he also nearly won this year’s Best County Official category). We certainly have had issues with Arakawa’s administration in the past (most notably, departments like Environmental Management, Parks and the Prosecuting Attorney’s office). But in November 2014, Arakawa won reelection in a landslide. Our readers may find him scary, but a majority of the county’s registered voters disagreed. @Apignataro
44%
Runners Up: Taguma, 10%; Monsanto, 7%; David Ige, 3%
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BEST TOWN TO LIVE IN ON MAUI
Kihei
If you like sweltering sprawl with a side of cane dust, then Kihei’s the place for you. But can you even call Kihei an actual town? (There’s an actual current development project called “Downtown Kihei” to give the place a town center.) Advantages to living in Kihei: it’s relatively close to other parts of the island; has miles of good beaches; and (if you live in North Kihei) Target is just a 10-minute drive away. Disadvantages to living in Kihei: It takes just as long to drive the length of Pi‘ilani Highway as it does to get to Kahului; cane-burning can shower the whole place with smoke and ash; and South Kihei Road’s endless strip malls and timeshares largely hide those miles of beaches from view. @Apignataro
27%
Runners Up: Lahaina, 22%; Haiku, 9%; Paia, 9%
Photo: Viriditas/Wikimedia
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BEST TOWN TO VISIT ON MAUI
Paia
Our readers have long loved visiting Paia, which is both understandable (great boutiques and restaurants, wonderful beaches, eclectic people-watching) and absurd (have you tried parking a car there lately?). Seems to us it might be better just to live there and then walk to all that listed above, but go figure. Then again, if we all lived in Paia, it wouldn’t exactly be a small town anymore. @Apignataro
27%
Runners Up: Lahaina, 24%; Hana, 20%; Makawao, 7%
Photo of cane burning: Sean M. Hower; Photo of Alan Arakawa courtesy County of Maui; Photo of Paia: Forest & Kim Starr/Wikimedia Commons
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