ʻO au nō ʻo Laʻakea Low. No ka mokupuni ʻo Maui mai au ma ka moku ʻo Hāmākuapoko. Ke noho nei au ma ka ahupuaʻa ʻo Haʻikū ma Koakomo i kēia manawa.
Writing in SUPPORT of Bill No. 92 (2022). Mahalo nui iā ʻoe e Lālā Paltin.
I reviewed Chapter 2.60 - MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS of the Maui County Code (MCC) and am surprised that this particular requirement has not yet been codified in the MCC.
It may be worthwhile to further define "residency". For instance, I spent my entire life on ʻohana property in Haʻikū before moving to ʻohana property in Kula for a few years, and am now back on the same ʻohana property in Haʻikū. I bring this up because I had just moved back to Haʻikū eariler this year when applications were being accepted for the Maui Planning Commission Advisory Committee for the Haʻikū-Pāʻia planning area. If I'm not mistaken, because I had just moved back after a few years away, I was not eligible to serve - even though I've spent nearly 90% of my entire life living in the area.
Meanwhile, someone who lived in the area for a paltry period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the person’s appointment is - somehow - deemed eligible to serve. Assuming an applicant has never before lived in the area, is 40 years of age, and has now lived in the area for twelve consecutive months, that would mean they've spent only 2.5% of their entire life living in the area. If it is the intent of this resolution to appoint folks with place-based knowledge of the area, I suggest doing away with a residency requirement calculated in consecutive months. Instead, adopt a requirement that an applicant is a current resident of the area and that at least 10% of the applicant's age in years have been spent as a resident in the area.
This is an issue that keeps many long-time Maui Nui families up at night. I am deeply concerned with the potential flood of recent residents being appointed to boards and commissions, whereby they are empowered to make monumental decisions that - more often than not, it seems - negatively impact the livelihoods and lifeways of multi-generational ʻohana of Maui Nui. This will likely become more and more difficult to correct, especially as we see the majority of home sales being purchased by people from outside Hawaiʻi. With the enormous amount of kuleana embedded in the duties of Maui County boards and commissions, more stringent residency requirements for serving must be codified in MCC.
Members of boards and commissions and committees should be residents of Maui County. They should also have to recuse themselves if there are conflicts of interest. For example real estate and construction industry professionals on the Planning Commission should be recused from development projects.
Aloha mai kākou,
ʻO au nō ʻo Laʻakea Low. No ka mokupuni ʻo Maui mai au ma ka moku ʻo Hāmākuapoko. Ke noho nei au ma ka ahupuaʻa ʻo Haʻikū ma Koakomo i kēia manawa.
Writing in SUPPORT of Bill No. 92 (2022). Mahalo nui iā ʻoe e Lālā Paltin.
I reviewed Chapter 2.60 - MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS of the Maui County Code (MCC) and am surprised that this particular requirement has not yet been codified in the MCC.
It may be worthwhile to further define "residency". For instance, I spent my entire life on ʻohana property in Haʻikū before moving to ʻohana property in Kula for a few years, and am now back on the same ʻohana property in Haʻikū. I bring this up because I had just moved back to Haʻikū eariler this year when applications were being accepted for the Maui Planning Commission Advisory Committee for the Haʻikū-Pāʻia planning area. If I'm not mistaken, because I had just moved back after a few years away, I was not eligible to serve - even though I've spent nearly 90% of my entire life living in the area.
Meanwhile, someone who lived in the area for a paltry period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the person’s appointment is - somehow - deemed eligible to serve. Assuming an applicant has never before lived in the area, is 40 years of age, and has now lived in the area for twelve consecutive months, that would mean they've spent only 2.5% of their entire life living in the area. If it is the intent of this resolution to appoint folks with place-based knowledge of the area, I suggest doing away with a residency requirement calculated in consecutive months. Instead, adopt a requirement that an applicant is a current resident of the area and that at least 10% of the applicant's age in years have been spent as a resident in the area.
This is an issue that keeps many long-time Maui Nui families up at night. I am deeply concerned with the potential flood of recent residents being appointed to boards and commissions, whereby they are empowered to make monumental decisions that - more often than not, it seems - negatively impact the livelihoods and lifeways of multi-generational ʻohana of Maui Nui. This will likely become more and more difficult to correct, especially as we see the majority of home sales being purchased by people from outside Hawaiʻi. With the enormous amount of kuleana embedded in the duties of Maui County boards and commissions, more stringent residency requirements for serving must be codified in MCC.
Me ka ʻoiaʻiʻo,
Laʻakea Low
Koakomo, Haʻikū, Maui
Members of boards and commissions and committees should be residents of Maui County. They should also have to recuse themselves if there are conflicts of interest. For example real estate and construction industry professionals on the Planning Commission should be recused from development projects.
Yes we should have a residency requirement