Almost weekly leading up to the November election on Maui we have seen front page articles damning Council Member Alika Atay for various trifles. One could easily suspect its part of an effort to disempower this Native Hawaiian politician and place his election rival, Alice Lee, back into the fold of the “good old boy”
Council Member Elle Cochran, who was the top vote-getter in the 2016 Maui Council election, is running for mayor this November on a platform of revolutionizing County government to create a new culture of transparency and effective collaboration. “Elle,” as she is widely known, makes no secret of her intention of sweeping away a plantation-mentality
The upcoming 2018 Maui election offers an extraordinary, historic opportunity to change the power structure that has limited progressive change on our island. The Maui Ohana wing of the County Council – Elle Cochran, Alika Atay and Kelly King – is poised to be joined by another wave of reformist candidates seeking to take Maui
Ever since a new wave of progressive politicians was elected to the Maui County Council the old guard has struggled to maintain power. In their latest Machiavellian tactic to suppress the influence of new members and especially the outspoken Native Hawaiian water protector Alika Atay, Council Chair Mike White is introducing a new bill that
It would be gratifying to think that the politics of the Aloha State are conducted on a high plain, but unfortunately the history of our state was founded on lies, deception and force. Under the prevailing kleptocratic system, politics and morals are growing more distant, reflecting the national political environment – a murky swamp in
Facing a political hailstorm in response to naming himself the powerful Chairman of Maui’s County Council through an illegally rigged secret pre-election, Mike White yesterday issued a statement on the Council’s public website defending his actions. White’s response doubles down on his dishonesty. He is now using the taxpayer funded website to both deflect public
On November 11, just three days after Maui’s political establishment suffered unexpected Election Day losses to the Maui Ohana (family) slate of reformist candidates, Mike White, the Chair of the County Council, made a shocking announcement. In clear violation of the Maui County Charter (Section 3.5 here) which states that the vote for the Council
