#Yuki Lei Sugimura

The Maui County Council gave final approval Thursday to a $1.6 billion fiscal year 2027 budget, sending the spending plan to Mayor Richard Bissen’s desk, but not before adding $50,000 for Maui County campus security.

Sugimura has a lead of more than 10 points in two polls, but Bissen’s camp says its polling shows him with a 6-point lead.

Maui County Council Vice-Chair and mayoral candidate, Yuki Lei Sugimura, has secured an endorsement from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 50, which represents thousands of workers across Hawaiʻi.

Two Maui County Council members are headed back to office without a fight, along with Central Maui Sen. Troy Hashimoto and Kahului Rep. Justin Woodson who’re also uncontested for re-election.

A Maui County Council committee voted unanimously last week to send a bill increasing fines for vehicle noise violations to the full Council, even as some members questioned whether the measure would have any real-world impact.

The Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee voted 6-1 Tuesday to advance new hotel zoning districts for thousands of short-term vacation rentals facing a county-mandated phase-out—overriding unanimous rejection from all three county planning commissions.

A Maui County Council committee voted 5-1 Wednesday to recommend passage of two land use bills that would clear the way for the proposed Hoʻonani Village mixed-use development on former sugarcane fields near Kahului Airport, overriding deferral recommendations from three county departments with concerns about infrastructure shortfalls.

“Maui families are under real pressure: rising housing costs, higher bills, struggling small businesses, and residents wondering whether they can afford to stay home,” said LaCosta. “My plan is clear: cut the cost of living, restore Lahaina, fight for a Maui hospital, and bring honesty and accountability back to County government. We will turn renters into owners and lower rents.”

A mixed-use development proposed for 40 acres of former sugarcane land near Pāʻia won committee approval Wednesday, moving a project that would bring up to 170 homes, commercial businesses, a medical clinic and a public parking lot to the next stage of a years-long entitlement process.

The Maui County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee voted 6-3 Tuesday to recommend full Council approval of the county’s proposed purchase of a contested Kaʻehu Bay shoreline parcel in Waiehu, setting aside calls from a Native Hawaiian family for deferral pending further consultation.

A Maui County Council committee recommended first reading approval Tuesday of a $4 million bond funding request for the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Arts project in Wailuku, even as council members raised pointed questions about why items originally represented as part of the project had been dropped before construction began.

The Maui County Council unanimously passed a $1.6 billion fiscal year 2027 budget on first reading Friday, approving a contested shoreline stabilization grant after a lengthy discussion and splitting 5-4 on election-year spending limits on the mayor’s office.

In honor of National Police Week, a delegation of personnel from the Maui Police Department is attending the annual memorial events in Washington, D.C., including the addition of Officer Suzanne O to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, where her service and sacrifice will be formally honored alongside officers from across the nation.

With three weeks left before the June 2 candidate filing deadline, the Maui County candidate line-ups are taking shape. Two incumbents — West Maui Council Member Tamara Paltin and East Maui Council Member Shane Sinenci — have officially committed to campaigns for re-election while others haven’t jumped in officially, yet. Five council members — Kauanoe […]

Preliminary results from this year’s Charity Walk show an impressive total of $1.62 million raised in Maui County to directly benefit more than 74 Maui County nonprofit organizations. This “day-of” total broke last year’s record, however, funding is still being accepted until May 31.

Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee said Wednesday evening that she will not seek re-election this year. Instead, the veteran council member is throwing her support behind Marvin Moniz, a longtime state Department of Transportation airports manager, to succeed her in the Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū residency seat.

The incumbent mayor is contending with a lawsuit and a slate of challengers as he defends his first term, with one political analyst calling it “probably the most interesting race this election cycle.”

The Maui County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee completed its review of Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget this week, unanimously adopting a revised spending plan of approximately $1.608 billion.

Maui County Council Member Kauanoe Batangan has proposed an across-the-board 1.25% budget cut for non-first-responder departments that would yield somewhat more than $5 million in savings from Mayor Richard Bissen’s fiscal 2027 $1.61 billion budget proposal.

The Maui Police Department is requesting a $12.2 million budget increase next fiscal year, or 11.6% more than this year, to address staffing shortages and modernize public safety technology across Maui County.