Years ago, while covering one of then-Maui County Councilmember Jo Anne Johnson’s reelection campaigns, I made the mistake of asking her challenger what she disliked about Johnson’s record. “I love Jo Anne Johnson,” she said and refused to say anything bad about her opponent. Needless to say, Johnson won that race. At the Haiku Community Association’s July 17 candidates forum … [Read more...] about A Brief Report On The July 17 Mele Carroll-Barbara Smackdown In Haiku
Jo Anne Johnson
Alan Arakawa: The (Re)Entrance Interview
Last weekend, Alan Arakawa was sworn in as the seventh Mayor of Maui County -- eight years after he became Maui’s fifth Mayor, and four years after he watched Charmaine Tavares take his job. A few days before the ceremony, we sat down with Arakawa in his Wailuku transition office -- a small, cluttered room filled with papers, filing cabinets and a few staffers pecking at iPads … [Read more...] about Alan Arakawa: The (Re)Entrance Interview
West Maui Charter Group: Abolish LC Board
This week, the West Maui Charter Working Group—a collection of residents “from diverse professional, political and social backgrounds”—released a set of recommendations for amending the County Charter. Among them: do away with the Department of Liquor Control’s Adjudication Board. The Adjudication Board, as anyone who follows our LC Watch column knows, considers the cases of … [Read more...] about West Maui Charter Group: Abolish LC Board
Why the County Council is Like High School…In a Bad Way
“It’s like being a high school student gossiping in the halls.” That’s outgoing Councilmember Jo Anne Johnson, describing the way the Council chooses its chair and assigns various committee positions. The process—which concluded last week—is done behind closed doors, and Johnson said it’s largely a game of “he said, she said” that “leads to a lot of misinformation and hurt … [Read more...] about Why the County Council is Like High School…In a Bad Way
Will Elle Cochran’s Checkered Past Affect Her Future?
The recent revelation, first reported in The Maui News, that Elle Cochran was involved in an attempted robbery sixteen years ago raised a number of questions. Chief among them: what, if anything, will this do to her bid for the West Maui Council seat? Cochran got the most votes in the September 20 primary and—with the endorsement of popular termed-out incumbent Jo Anne … [Read more...] about Will Elle Cochran’s Checkered Past Affect Her Future?