This is the final installment in our series of primary election profiles; look for endorsements next week. This week, we examine the eleven candidates vying to be Mayor of Maui County.
Name: Alan Arakawa
Profile: Before becoming Mayor in 2002, Arakawa served for almost 20 years in the Department of Public Works, eventually heading up the department’s wastewater division. He lost to Charmaine Tavares in 2006, and says he’s running again because he believes “our County is headed in the wrong direction” and that “many important issues…have not been addressed by our Mayor.” He lists the economy, water and housing among his top priorities, and promises to use his “experience and knowledge to hit the ground running.”
Web site: Arakawa2010.com
Name: Sally Chow Hammond
Profile: A Molokai homemaker, Hammond says she has “witnessed way too much development here—plowing of land and disrupted burial sites” and that she’s running to “put control of the ‘aina and wai (land and water) back into the hands of the Hawaiian people.”
Web site: Sally4mayor.com
Name: Chris Hart
Profile: Hart—who spent two decades in the Planning Department, including a five-year stint as director, and has also worked as a landscape architect and small business owner—touts his “years of successful government service and…years of business experience.” He says creating a “cutting edge” Island Plan is the key to “set the course for Maui’s future.”
Web site: Chrishartmaui.com
Name: Marc Hodges
Profile: A former MPD officer and member of the Maui Tea Party, Hodges promises to “rein in government” and “shrink taxes.” He’s indicated that he’d push for approval of almost any development proposal in the interest of stimulating the economy and says that “the earth is God’s gift for all people to use” and “environmental policies that benefit a few elites while harming jobs and families are not acceptable.”
Web site: Hodgesforprogress.com
Name: Sol Kaho‘ohalahala
Profile: Kaho‘ohalahala is currently serving his third term on the County Council and has also done two stints in the state legislature. He says he’s “dismayed by the dysfunction in our County government” and promises to increase efficiency and accountability. He cites “economic diversity” through local food and fuel production and water infrastructure, which he says has been “passed like a hot potato from one administration to the next,” among his top priorities. “We are surrounded by opportunities,” he adds. “We have to be willing to change and grow in new directions.”
Web site: Solformayor.org
Name: Ori Kopelman
Profile: Kopelman is basing his campaign around a vision of “Mauitopia.” For a longer description visit his Web site, but here’s how Kopelman sums it up: “In Mauitopia everyone would do what they love for work, crime would no longer exist, we’d use renewable energy, have sustainability as a priority and we’d all help each other out.”
Web site: Mauitopia.org
Name: Peter Milbourn
Profile: Milbourn says he’s “tired of watching the same political process” and that he doesn’t have “any special interests other than Maui County.” He mostly hits on environmental issues on his campaign Web site, including protecting reefs and fighting urban sprawl (which he calls one of his “biggest pet peeves.”).
Web site: Milbournformayor.com
Name: Harold “Hap” Miller
Profile: Miller didn’t respond to our candidate questionnaire and we couldn’t find an official campaign Web site. In July, Miller, who works in real estate, told The Maui News he wants to get the County “back into the business of building affordable housing.”
Web site: Unknown
Name: Jonathon Olson
Profile: A CPA and real estate broker who served as CFO of Maui Memorial, Olson touts his “diversified background,” calls himself “a problem solver and a leader” and says he “can make positive changes with the great workers at the County of Maui.”
Web site: Jonathonolson.com
Name: RandY PILT Z
Profile: Maui-born, Piltz spent part of his career on the Mainland as a sheriff and sales engineer for General Electric. He moved back to Maui in the ’70s and ran Piltz Electric, retiring in 2007. He currently heads up the state Land Use Commission and has also chaired the Maui County Planning Commission. His top three issues, outlined on his campaign Web site, are: water, housing and “doing more with less.”
Web site: Piltzformayor.com
Name: Charmaine Tavares
Profile: The incumbent and daughter of former Mayor Hannibal Tavares, Charmaine spent 10 years on the County Council before defeating incumbent Arakawa in 2006. Her first term coincided with a difficult period for Maui, and she has drawn her share of criticism (including from this paper). But she cites her experience, “deep caring for our community” and “common sense approach” as reasons why voters should let her (as she put it in a video posted on her campaign blog) “continue for the sake of continuity.”
Web site: Charmainetavares.org
VOTE! ESSENTIAL INFO:
Primary Election: September 18
General Election: November 2
Web site: www.hawaii.gov/elections
Phone: 453-VOTE
E-mail: Elections@hawaii.gov
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