Maui Council Approves Leadership and Committees for New 2021-2023 Term

Maui Council leadership remains unchanged as members voted on Saturday to keep the council chair, vice chair and presiding officer pro tempore in place for the new 2021-2023 term.

In a 9-0 vote, members elected Alice L. Lee (Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū) as council chair, Keani N.W. Rawlins-Fernandez (Molokaʻi) as council vice-chair and Tasha Kama (Kahului) as presiding officer pro tempore.

At today’s organizational meeting, the council also voted to establish eight standing committees, installing its sole freshman member, Gabe Johnson of Lānaʻi, as chair of the Affordable Housing Committee. 

“I’m very pleased with the outcome of this first meeting of the new council and the vote of confidence from my colleagues,” Lee said in a press release announcement. “This term is bound to bring many challenges, but we are ready to work together and do our very best for Maui County.”

“I deeply appreciate your support,” Lee told her colleagues at the conclusion of the three-hour meeting at which 10 resolutions were adopted. 

Earlier in the meeting, she joked that she hoped councilmembers would still be friends after the day’s deliberations. All of the resolutions ended up being unanimously adopted.

The standing committees and their chairs established by Resolution 21-4 are as follows:

• Affordable Housing Committee, chaired by Councilmember Johnson
• Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Council Vice-Chair Rawlins-Fernandez
• Climate Action, Resilience and Environment Committee, chaired by Councilmember Kelly Takaya King of South Maui
• Agriculture and Public Trust Committee, chaired by Councilmember Shane M. Sinenci of East Maui
• Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee, chaired by Councilmember Michael J. Molina of Makawao-Haiku-Paia
• Human Concerns and Parks Committee, chaired by Presiding Officer Pro Tempore Kama
• Planning and Sustainable Land Use Committee, chaired by Councilmember Tamara Paltin of West Maui
• Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, chaired by Councilmember Yuki Lei K. Sugimura of Upcountry Maui

The council also approved the appointment of Director of Council Services Traci Fujita, County Clerk Kathy Kaohu, Deputy County Clerk James Krueger and the staff the Office of Council Services and adopted the Rules of the Council. At the inauguration ceremony earlier in the day, councilmembers were sworn in by Judge Kirstin M. Hamman.