TO: Honorable Kauanoe Batangan, Chair, and Members, Government Relations, Ethics, and Transparency Committee, Maui County Council
FROM: Aloha Independent Living Hawaiʻi
RE: COMMENTS (support for clarity; access concerns and recommendations) — Resolution 26-61, Proposed Charter Amendment Relating to the Processing of Claims
HEARING: June 16, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (reconvened from June 2)
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Aloha Independent Living Hawaiʻi is the federally designated statewide Center for Independent Living serving Maui County — including Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi — and the other islands. We work across all disabilities.
We support giving the public a clear, single point for filing claims. We ask the Committee to make sure that point is one every resident can actually reach.
Resolution 26-61 would amend the Charter to require that claims for personal injury or property damage be filed directly with the Corporation Counsel. During the Committee's June 2 discussion, it was noted that the Corporation Counsel's Risk Management office is upstairs, badge-access only, without an elevator, and without a waiting area. As described, a resident who uses a wheelchair, who cannot climb stairs, who cannot stand while waiting, or who cannot enter a badge-controlled space without help could be blocked from filing — at the very moment they are seeking redress from the County. Residents of Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi face the added barrier of distance to Wailuku.
Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the County's programs and services must be accessible to people with disabilities when viewed in their entirety. Filing a claim is a public service. A Charter amendment that directs the public to a single department should not channel disabled claimants toward an inaccessible door.
The Charter already describes a claim as a "written statement" that is "filed." That language supports filing by mail or other remote means. We ask the Committee to make that explicit and accessible.
We respectfully recommend that, before this measure reaches the voters and in any implementation:

The County guarantee at least one physically accessible, public-facing filing location — elevator-served or on an accessible ground floor, with seating.
The County provide and publicize accessible alternatives to in-person filing — by mail, online, and by phone — plus assisted filing for those who need it, so no one must climb stairs to exercise their rights.
The claims process include clear wayfinding, plain-language instructions, and a designated accessible point of contact.
The County account for neighbor-island residents, for whom remote filing is essential.

Streamlining claims is a chance to widen access, not narrow it. We ask the Committee to make accessibility part of this measure's record and its implementation.
Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.
Respectfully submitted,
Roxanne Untalan Bolden
Executive Director
Aloha Independent Living Hawaiʻi