There was good reason to question procedure

The Maui News editorials (April 26, 28) about citizens challenging a process that keeps them out of the County Council’s hair while backroom deals are being made were disappointing. The newspaper should have acknowledged that County Council Chairman Riki Hokama also had concerns about the process the council was following in its discussions of Wailea 670. He stated so publicly.

The longest-serving member of the council also expressed doubts that many promises made by Honua‘ula Partners LLC, as part of the council’s conditions, would be kept. Hokama suggested that the council needed to support projects with the most benefits for Maui’s people, not just try to patch up the ones being pushed by well-funded investors.

Hokama’s father and my father served on the council that heard the promises made when Wailea 670 got its first approvals in 1993. Those promises included 60 percent affordable housing, a Little League field for South Maui built before any houses, funding to improve the public wastewater treatment plant, investment in public water systems, and more. Those promises proved to be inconvenient and are now eliminated from or “renegotiated” in the new rezoning bill.

Under the Land Use Committee’s interpretation of the Sunshine Law, only the developers and their consultants were allowed to offer oral comments while the conditions were being decided. The public watched in silence. The community is grateful to Judge Joseph Cardoza for asking the county to uphold our laws.

Kai Nishiki

Haiku