The organization formerly known as TEACH (Technology, Education, Agriculture, Community, Health) disappeared so quickly this week that the door couldn’t even hit its butt on the way out. In much the same way as it arrived last year, TEACH vanished in a haze of hubris and new age babble. Frontmen Mark Chasan and Jason Hobson made no public statements, opting only to write a … [Read more...] about Did the County of Maui learn anything from TEACH’s failure?
Yuki Lei Sugimura
SAFE Action Fund-backed Maui County Councilmembers still screwed in committee rosters
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 … [Read more...] about SAFE Action Fund-backed Maui County Councilmembers still screwed in committee rosters
UPDATED: Mike White becomes Chair after contentious 13+ hour Maui County Council meeting
Mike White is once again Chair of the Maui County Council. Though the Jan. 2, 2016 Organizational Meeting of the Maui County Council stretched past 13 hours, this was never really in doubt. Nor was there any doubt that White–who is also the general manager of the Ka`anapali Beach Hotel–would strip away the independence of the ostensibly apolitical Office of Council Services … [Read more...] about UPDATED: Mike White becomes Chair after contentious 13+ hour Maui County Council meeting
CORRECTED: All Hail Maui County Council Chair Mike White!
I gotta hand it to Maui County Councilmember Mike White: he’ll do what he needs to do to maintain power. Undoubtedly a student of Machiavelli, he’s spent the last two years as Maui County Council chairperson clearly more willing to be feared than loved. After all, he seized control of the council back in January 2015 through what then-Council Chairperson Gladys Baisa called a … [Read more...] about CORRECTED: All Hail Maui County Council Chair Mike White!
MauiTime 2016 Year In Review
Even without the election of Republican Donald Trump to be President of the United States, this was a monstrous year. We’ve had to deal with job losses, outrageous giveaways to big business and just a general slide away from democratic protections and open government assurances. We like to think of Hawaii (and Maui especially) as existing outside the world’s troubles, but it’s … [Read more...] about MauiTime 2016 Year In Review