One of Maui County Council Chairperson Mike White’s surprising concessions in the wee hours of the Jan. 2-3 County Council organizational meeting was to back off his ruthless, vindictive restructuring of the panel’s many committees to zero out the voting power of four councilmembers: Alika Atay, Elle Cochran, Don Guzman and Kelly King. Their crime, of course, was being backed by the slow-growth, anti-GMO SAFE Action Fund, which is directly arrayed against the interests of White’s far more pro-establishment five-member voting bloc.
But after hours of angry, brutal testimony from residents, White decided to scrap his plans to make sure SAFE-backed councilmembers held no majorities in any of the committees (he had also lowered the membership of some committees down to five, saying he was having a hard time in the last term getting quorums). Instead, White said he would hold a public hearing on the design and makeup of the future committees.
That meeting took place on Monday, Jan. 16. Guess what! SAFE-backed candidates are still screwed. Sure, the idea of five-member committees seems dead, but once again, SAFE candidates are in the minority of every single committee. So it goes.
Here are the committee rosters for future reference:
POLICY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND AGRICULTURE (PEA)
Chair: Yuki Lei Sugimura
Vice Chair: Stacy Crivello
Members: Alika Atay, Bob Carroll, Elle Cochran, Don Guzman, Riki Hokama, Kelly King, Mike White
INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (IEM)
Chair: Cochran
Vice Chair: Guzman
Members: Atay, Carroll, Hokama, Sugimura, White
BUDGET AND FINANCE (BF)
Chair: Hokama
Vice Chair: White
Members: Atay, Carroll, Cochran, Crivello, Guzman, King, Sugimura
PARKS, RECREATION, ENERGY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS (PRL)
Chair: Guzman
Vice Chair: King
Members: Atay, Carroll, Cochran, Crivello, Hokama, Sugimura, White
WATER RESOURCES (WR)
Chair: Atay
Vice Chair: Cochran
Members: Carroll, Crivello, King, Sugimura, White
LAND USE (LU)
Chair: Carroll
Vice Chair: Hokama
Members: Atay, Cochran, Crivello, Guzman, King, Sugimura, White
PLANNING (PC)
Chair: King
Vice Chair: Sugimura
Members: Cochran, Crivello, Guzman, Hokama, White
HOUSING, HUMAN SERVICES, AND TRANSPORTATION (HHT)
Chair: Crivello
Vice Chair: Carroll
Members: Atay, Guzman, Hokama, King, White
Photo: Blogtrepreneur/Flickr
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