Public hearings taken to neighborhoods of county

The Maui News
May 4, 2003

By MARK ADAMS
Staff Writer

KUAU — A countywide campaign designed to find out what the common man and woman want Maui Nui’s future to hold for them kicked off Saturday morning at a little market in Kuau.

There one could find store owner Leona Nomura — who’s pretty much the switchboard operator for the coconut wireless on the North Shore — helping state Sen. J. Kalani English spread the word about the “Focus Maui Nui: Our Islands, Our Future” campaign.

But first Nomura had to get a couple things straight.

She knows that the idea is to get as many “local” people as possible involved in articulating their vision for Maui County.

But did that mean local people like those that live in your neighborhood, she wondered, or local people as it used in its local sense, which usually means everyone except those who are Caucasian, but including the Portuguese.

“Yes,” English explained simply. The project is meant to include all of those people, including Caucasians, but especially the people who wouldn’t turn out for a big public meeting in the County Council Chambers or at the Haiku Community Center because that sort of thing isn’t in their nature.

And so it went in many locations across the county Saturday morning, as a group of about 75 “Civic Engagement Project” volunteers fanned out and began explaining their goals and inviting residents to host or attend small-scale, friendly gatherings in their homes or churches or schools over the next few months.

Those sessions will be held to allow as many diverse groups of people as possible — residents from every ethnic group, from every walk of life — to voice their opinions on how Maui Nui can get what it wants in the future without losing what it already has.

Maui Nui is the ancient name for Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe, once linked as a single land mass. The collective vision and values that come out of the community meetings will be used to formulate a document spelling out where Maui wants to end up, and how we can all get there from here.

It is hoped that the research in the document will be used by county and state policy-makers to set priorities as they make decisions on the future and that it will be incorporated into the plans made by private and nonprofit organizations.

Teams that included County Council members, Mayor Alan Arakawa and members of his administration, several state lawmakers and many community volunteers attended a kickoff session at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center and then headed out to Central, South, East and West Maui spreading the word and passing out bumper stickers and sign-up sheets seeking participants. Other volunteers were canvassing neighborhoods on Molokai and Lanai as well.

In a front yard in Kuau, Sen. English told Ben and Janice Walin about the grass-roots effort and received a positive response.

“It’s a wonderful idea,” Janice Walin said, adding that many of the people she knows feel the community plan for her region of the county was created by “a vocal minority.”

Ben Walin said it’s clear that most local people don’t come out for large public meetings.

“It’s just not their style,” he said. But he thinks they’ll feel much more comfortable speaking their minds in the living room of a friend.

Over at the Kuau Mart, Leona Nomura was behind the counter in her new “Focus Maui Nui” T-shirt, dishing up hot dogs and laulau to a steady stream of customers as English explained the community effort to customers and gave her an occasional assist.

Nomura agreed that there is a huge segment of the community not involved in the decision-making process.

“We don’t write letters and we don’t make public speeches,” she said of the local community.

Her son, Fred Nomura Jr., agreed as he helped his mom.

“Maui is word of mouth,” he said. “Local people aren’t really outspoken — anything you can do to get to local people is a good idea.”

Destryee Jacintho of Haiku left the store with a leaflet and said many in the local community are intimidated or don’t think their concerns will be heard.

“They feel no one is going to listen,” she said.

Having sessions in a small setting that includes friends or family or neighbors will go a long way toward making things easier.

“You’d get them to be honest about how they really feel,” Jacintho said.

One woman asked English if it would be possible to have a facilitator to run a session in Native Hawaiian. The senator, speaking in Hawaiian, said he was sure that is possible.

A man who gave his name only as William — underscoring the dislike many have for the public spotlight — said he thinks recent arrivals from the Mainland are getting too much of the attention and having a negative impact on Maui County.

“The county has to help everyone, not just certain people,” William said.

Leona Nomura is a big believer in democracy. She worked for English’s election — he says she pretty much delivered the north shore vote for his candidacy — and her storefront is adorned by the flags of the United States, Hawaii and even Australia, in honor of that nation’s participation in the coalition that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Her son Chris Nomura, a sergeant in Echo Company of the 3rd Infantry Division, is now serving in Iraq and recently toured one of Saddam’s palaces.

Having seen planning efforts come and go, she isn’t sure a new one will have much of an impact.

“We have no faith already,” she said, although she’s willing to keep an open mind in giving the Focus Maui Nui effort a chance to address some of the issues facing the county.

Which then brought up the crystal methamphetamine problem on Maui, with Nomura noting that it’s kind of ironic that her son is helping chase down chemicals in Iraq that so far appear to be in short supply.

“We’ve got more chemicals on this island than they have there,” she said to laughter.

Sen. English is hoping people will give the Focus Maui Nui effort a fair chance.

“The approach is the correct one,” he said of the attempt to include everyone. “I think it will give people a sense of hope, a sense of being in control of their destiny.”

The research that comes out of the small groups will be used to identify and prioritize major challenges facing the county. English said it will help validate or disprove current assessments of what the community really wants that now come largely from anecdotal evidence.

“It will be a good snapshot of the time,” English said.

Focus Maui Nui is hoping to reach thousands of individual residents, with more than 100 small-group forums planned to discuss the islands’ needs, its challenges and its future.

Arakawa had invoked the words of Abraham Lincoln during the earlier kickoff rally at MACC, when he said government is supposed to be “of the people, for the people, by the people.”

The new effort will let residents at large refocus on priorities with a vision of the common good, he said, making sure it doesn’t perish from this Earth.

Arakawa said Focus Maui Nui will go a step further than past “visioning efforts” as decision-makers hopefully pass actual legislation and approve funding to meet the community ideals the project establishes.

“This is critically important. Our community is changing day by day,” Arakawa said.

Jeanne Skog, president and CEO of the sponsoring Maui Economic Development Board, said Focus Maui Nui will build on past efforts and influence planning and policy-making in the years to come.

“For years now, people in this county have been saying that the decisions about our islands’ land, programs and development need to come from the residents — and not from special interests,” she said.

And here’s their chance to get involved.
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