BRIEF: Maui Wins National Award for Civic Engagement

Image courtesy County of Maui, Office of Council Services.

By Maui Now Staff

The County of Maui is the recipient of a national award for civic engagement, Council Chair Gladys Baisa announced.

The National Association of Counties will present the 2014 Achievement Award during its annual conference in New Orleans on July 13.

Baisa said the award recognizes Maui for the council’s implementation of a system that allows public testimony to be received from remote district offices in Hāna, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi.

Baisa credited former Council Chair and current County Clerk Danny Mateo for implementing the program in December 2012; and East Maui Council Member Robert Carroll for proposing the creation of the system in 2011.

According to Baisa, more than 80 people testified from the Council office in Kaunakakai, Molokai, during a two-day committee meeting in February.

In a press release announcement, Baisa said the council “has been concerned with making county government more transparent and accessible to everyone in the county, no matter where they live. This award is gratifying because it highlights our efforts to promote civic engagement.”