A bill to prohibit the use and sale of disposable plastic foodware in Maui County passed the Council’s Environmental, Agricultural, and Cultural Preservation Committee by a vote of 5-1 on Tuesday, Feb. 18, with Councilmember Yuki Lei Sugimura being the sole No vote (Councilmember Alice Lee was not present). The bill now heads to the full council for its first reading. While all … [Read more...] about On County Single-Use Plastic Ban, Differences Emerge Regarding Sense of Urgency
Yuki Lei Sugimura
Riki Hokama, Parliamentarian
A friend of mine calls Councilmember Riki Hokama (Lana‘i) by a Trumpian nickname: “Tricky Riki.” The name, this person would say, has been earned over the councilmember’s many years of service at the council, but one entanglement at last week’s director-confirmation hearing for acting Prosecuting Attorney J.D. Kim shows why the nickname stuck – and why the same person who … [Read more...] about Riki Hokama, Parliamentarian
Scathing liquor control audit presented to PEA Committee, referred to new council
Maui County Liquor Control Director Glenn Mukai strained a smile on Monday as he sat through a presentation of findings from a scathing performance audit of the Department of Liquor Control conducted by Harvey M. Rose Associates, LLC, a third-party consulting firm commissioned by the Maui County Council. Mukai, described in the audit as being allowed to operate his department … [Read more...] about Scathing liquor control audit presented to PEA Committee, referred to new council
Scathing third-party audit of Maui County Liquor Control sheds light on dysfunctional, mismanaged, and inefficient department
Maui County’s Department of Liquor Control is plagued by a multitude of shortcomings and failures in its oversight, fulfillment of responsibilities, staffing, licensing processes, and enforcement policies, a recently released performance audit finds. The third-party report by California-based consulting firm Harvey M. Rose Associates, LLC, was commissioned in February … [Read more...] about Scathing third-party audit of Maui County Liquor Control sheds light on dysfunctional, mismanaged, and inefficient department
Does Yuki Lei Sugimura Hate Animals? – A poorly written bill ignites social media and causes ‘a whole lot of drama’
Councilmember Yuki Lei Sugimura ignited a social media firestorm last week when she introduced a bill to amend the County Code section relating to animal control. The proposed bill, which did not pass the Housing, Human Concerns, and Transportation Committee, aimed to define “livestock” as animals raised in an agricultural setting for the production of commodities, then exempt … [Read more...] about Does Yuki Lei Sugimura Hate Animals? – A poorly written bill ignites social media and causes ‘a whole lot of drama’