County Council sends 5 proposed charter amendments to Nov. ballot

Maui County Council members Friday afternoon voted to send to the voters in November a proposed charter amendment to establish a Department of Agriculture to develop sustainable agriculture in Maui County.

The proposed amendment was among the more hotly debated ones in the council. Advocates said the new department would increase economic opportunities in the farming sector and boost resident health and food security through locally grown agricultural products.

But those opposed to the proposed amendment argued that the department just creates another layer of bureaucracy for farmers, that it is too costly to set up amid tight coronavirus-era budgets and that the specifics of the department were not outlined.

Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino has expressed his opposition to the proposal saying it lacks the analysis required to determine its cost to residents as well as the details of its function and responsibilities. He added that the federal and state governments already have agriculture departments and that it is better to wait until the formation of the Charter Commission in 2021 “to make recommendations for amendments of this magnitude.”

Voting on second and final reading in favor of the resolution to place the department amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot were: Chairwoman Alice Lee, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Tamara Paltin, Kelly King and Shane Sinenci, who authored the proposal. Those opposed were Riki Hokama, Yuki Lei Sugimura and Tasha Kama.

It was one of five charter amendment resolutions up for second and final reading Friday. All passed with the needed six votes. The others were:

≤ Establishing stricter terms limits for council members by limiting the number of terms a person may serve as a council member to five two-year terms for life. The vote was six to two, with Lee, Rawlins-Fernandez, Paltin, King, Molina and Sinenci in favor and Hokama and Sugimura opposing. Kama was excused.

≤ Relating to conflicting interpretations of the charter, by establishing standards for interpreting and complying with the charter, including requiring a viable judicial action to be filed within 30 days to seek clarity when a conflict in the interpretation of the charter is identified.

≤ Charter Commission member selection, authorizing the council to appoint nine members and the mayor to appoint two members of the 11member Charter Commission. Currently, the mayor appoints all members with the council confirming.

≤ Stricter term limits for the mayor by limiting the number of terms a person may serve as mayor to two full four-year terms for life.

The later three charter amendments all passed by a vote of seven to two, with Hokama and Sugimura opposing those amendments.