Testimonies received from BFED Committee

On behalf of bill 55:
Aloha Chair and Members of the Council,
My name is Rick Dobson. I’ve worked in animal health care on Maui for the past fourteen years, and I’m raising three children here. I’m writing in support continued funding for Adaptations Dance Theater.
Living on Maui comes with real limitations when it comes to access to professional arts and culture. For many families, including mine, traveling off island to experience live performance just isn’t financially realistic. That’s why having a company like ADT here matters—it brings high-quality, professional contemporary dance directly to our community.
I attended my first ADT performance in 2023, and it was also my first time seeing contemporary dance. It changed how I understood what dance could be. More importantly, it made me realize how important it is that this kind of work exists here on Maui. Since then, I’ve consistently brought my teenagers—and often their friends—to performances. It’s become a meaningful part of their cultural education, and something we can access right here at home.
In a rural and geographically isolated place like Maui, organizations like ADT make a real difference. They contribute to quality of life and help make it possible for families, artists, and young people to stay here. It shows that we don’t have to leave the island to experience or be part of high-level art.
What stands out to me is that ADT is clearly supported by the community it serves. The audiences are local. The impact is local. I’m not part of the arts world—I’m a working parent—but I continue to support ADT because it has had a direct and lasting impact on my family.
I respectfully ask that you support Bill 55 and continue funding for Adaptations Dance Theater. It is an important part of building a strong, connected, and sustainable community here on Maui.
Mahalo,
Rick Dobson

Enough is enough.

Maui residents are watching their government struggle to perform its most basic responsibilities while millions of dollars continue to flow out through grants, subsidies, and handouts to nonprofits, organizations, and special interests. Meanwhile the people who actually fund this government—the residents and taxpayers of Maui County—are left dealing with rising costs, failing infrastructure, crime, slow permitting, and departments that can barely keep up with their core duties.

Ask a simple question: when was the last time you saw an ordinary resident stand in front of the council asking for taxpayer money to pay their bills, tax-free? It doesn’t happen. Working families on Maui handle their responsibilities every day without subsidies or special treatment. Yet government seems far more comfortable writing checks to organizations than fixing the systems it directly controls.

The county’s responsibility is not to function as a grant-distribution agency. Its responsibility is to run the government—public safety, roads, drainage, permitting, planning, infrastructure, and the departments residents rely on every single day. Those systems should be functioning at a high level before taxpayer money is dispersed elsewhere.

At the same time, residents are being asked to trust leadership despite a record that raises serious concerns. We have seen leadership failures, rising public safety questions, and a government structure that often appears more focused on messaging and programs than on competence and results. Accountability matters, and public officials should always be prepared to answer for the outcomes under their watch.

If Maui residents want things to change, the first step is showing up, paying attention, and demanding accountability. Government should serve the people of this island first—not political priorities, not press releases, and not a network of organizations funded by public money.

Support the departments you are responsible for. Fix the systems that are failing residents. Focus on competence and results.

And if leaders cannot do that, they should step aside and allow people who will.