#Josiah Nishita

The Maui County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee has recommended full Council approval of bills to acquire a new building for the Department of Prosecuting Attorney and to re-appropriate funds for phase one expansion of the Kula Agricultural Park. On Tuesday, the committee, chaired by Yuki Lei Sugimura, took up Bills 103 and […]

Mayor Richard Bissen will travel out of the state from the late morning of Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, until the evening of Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.

Mayor Bissen is traveling to attend next week’s After the Fire USA 2025 Wildfire Leadership Summit in California. Meanwhile, he is monitoring Hurricane Kiko as it moves into the Central Pacific Basin on Friday and will shorten out-of-state travel if weather emergencies are forecast. 

The Maui County Fair is back Oct. 2-5 at the War Memorial Complex after a six-year absence, but organizers are now faced with the challenge of fundraising an additional $500,000 for infrastructure beyond the $1.5 million already allocated by the Maui County Council.

A Maui County Council committee recommended approval Monday of a resolution expressing support for conveying public land in the vicinity of the Kahului Community Center and Kokua Pool for a 100-unit workforce rental housing project by Hale Makua Health Services in partnership with Alaka’i Development.

To make the return of the fair happen, Maui County is providing $1.5 million in funding — about double the cost of the event the last it was held in 2019.

The state Department of Transportation unveiled Friday a dozen zero-emissions, battery-electric buses that will be distributed to all four counties in Hawaiʻi, including Maui County. At an unveiling ceremony on Oʻahu, Maui County acting Mayor Josiah Nishita stood in for Mayor Richard Bissen, who was in New York with a Hawaiʻi delegation to submit the […]

This morning the Maui County Salary Commission rescinded its two-week-old decision on pay raises for the mayor, managing director and deputy managing director. Then, it recalibrated raises for those top leadership positions, using as a benchmark a recent Hawaiʻi State Salary Commission pay raise for Gov. Josh Green.

The Maui County Salary Commission voted unanimously, 5-0, last month in favor of double-digit percentage salary pay hikes aimed at attracting and retaining top talent to elected and appointed executive and legislative branch seats held by public officials. The pay raises go into effect July 1 and range from a high of $325,104 and $292,594 […]

The Maui County Salary Commission has given hefty pay raises to elected and appointed executive and legislative branch public officials, based on a “classification and compensation report” carried out by government consultant MGT. In a letter to County Council members, acting Salary Commission Chair Grant Nakama reported that the commission voted in favor of the […]

Bissen will attend the 80th National Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design from March 19-21, 2025, in California. He will present on the Kahului Community Center Park project.

A council committee backed the $1.7 million purchase of land that could be used in the short term to house volunteers helping with rebuilding and to store construction materials.

Erin Wade, a seasoned urban planning professional with more than 20 years of experience in municipal leadership, was sworn in Thursday morning as the County of Maui’s Deputy Managing Director.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen will travel out of the state from this morning, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, until the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.

Mayor Richard Bissen announced the selection of John Smith, a leader with the County of Maui’s Department of Public Works, to serve as the new administrator of the County’s Office of Recovery. County officials say Smith has been instrumental in leading infrastructure restoration efforts following the recent wildfires. In his new capacity, he will now oversee the County’s comprehensive recovery efforts.

Residents are invited to provide feedback on the County of Maui’s proposed acquisition of the approximately 273-acre Von Tempsky property, formerly known as Kula Ridge Mauka in Kula.

The Kula Community Association invites Kula residents to its General Meeting at the Von Tempsky Community Center on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. for an evening of honoring outstanding community members, hearing updates from County officials on fire and water update for Upcountry and other 2025 KCA business. 

The Kibou for Maui Project in Japan hosted a Maui leadership delegation and a youth cohort of 11 students from Lahainaluna High School to facilitate an educational and strategic exchange between Maui recovery effort leaders and disaster experts in Japan’s Tohoku region.

Mayor Richard Bissen joined Maui’s state, county and community leaders at After the Fire USA’s 2024 Wildfire Leadership Summit last week in Sonoma, Calif. Together, they shared updates on Maui’s wildfire recovery efforts and gathered valuable insights from other jurisdictions affected by similar disasters.

Mayor Bissen, along with County of Maui Managing Director Josiah Nishita and other County staff, will travel to California to attend the After the Fire USA 2024 Wildfire Leadership Summit.