5 more Bissen director appointees advance

Department heads now move on to full council for final approval votes

All county department head appointments made by Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. have been recommended for final approval before the Maui County Council.

On Wednesday, the council's Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee finished vetting the last five of Bissen's 12 appointments. On Tuesday, the committee vetted and unanimously recommended for approval seven of Bissen's appointments.

With the exception of appointee Lori Tsuhako for director of housing and human concerns, who received an 8-1 vote in favor, the other four appointed directors received unanimous 9-0 votes on Wednesday. They were: Marc Takamori for transportation director, Rogerene "Kali" Arce for agriculture director, Patrick McCall as parks and recreation director and Shayne Agawa for environmental management director.

Arce, Takamori and Tsuhako are carryover department heads from the past administration. Agawa has also previously served as deputy director of the Department of Environmental Management.

McCall is known for his longtime affiliation with youth athletics on Maui, as he was the former middle schools athletics coordinator for Kamehameha Schools Maui and athletic director and dean of students for St. Anthony Junior & Senior High School. He also served as vice principal of King Kekaulike High School and has been a fourth-grade teacher at Kula Elementary since 2017.

Following Wednesday's meeting, Bissen, who sat alongside each of his appointees when they appeared before the committee, thanked the council members and said their votes validated the work done by his executive review team, which was led by Managing Director Kekuhaupio Akana, who was also vetted by the council committee.

Unlike past years in which council vetting of directors was a long and often contentious process, the review of Bissen's appointees went more quickly and smoothly, with council members thanking the administration for putting forward qualified candidates.

"I hope to continue this relationship of respect and professionalism and I commit to do so," Bissen told the members.

Tsuhako, a veteran director from two past mayoral administrations of Charmaine Tavares and most recently Michael Victorino, endured the most criticism from the public and committee members among all the appointees. But she also received the most testimony supporting her appointment.

Lisa Darcy, founder of Share Your Mana, an organization whose work includes helping and advocating for houseless people, testified against Tsuhako's appointment.

"Every single time I have met with the department and the director ... none of the solutions or recommendations have been brought forward and utilized," said Darcy, who is involved with the county's Commission on Healing Solutions for Homelessness.

Darcy said during testimony Wednesday that she had proposed a hotline pre-pandemic for people to get information but it was not even considered.

She also described it as "bizarre" to hear some testimony in support of Tsuhako from houseless individuals who were moved as a result of a sweep of a large encampment along Amala Place in Kahului in September 2021. Critics said the move was rushed and people had nowhere to go. The county said that access to shelter and housing services were offered consistently for weeks prior to the move.

At least a dozen individuals offered testimony in support of Tsuhako, including some from the Amala encampment and others who were houseless in different areas of Maui.

Rita Burrows testified that she was once homeless for six years and had been sleeping on the ground with her children.

She said if it wasn't for Tsuhako's programs "to come out to the street and assign us with programs ... I don't think I'd be where I am today."

She said she felt she had nothing to live for and tried to commit suicide.

"If it wasn't for Lori and her programs to get us off the street, I don't think I'll be here today," Burrows said.

The lone vote against Tsuhako's appointment came from Council Member Gabe Johnson, who chaired the council's Affordable Housing Committee last term.

"I do not support the motion, but I do respect Director Tsuhako as a person," Johnson said during the vote. "Appointing the same people every year and expecting change, I don't think it's been working out for us during my time as a council member. I've been trying to untie the knots of previous administrations that Director Tsuhako has been part of."

He added that "our fundamental differences have often been me saying 'tomayto' and director saying 'tomahto.' It's just a professional disagreement, so I cannot support this but I do respect her as a person."

Chairwoman Alice Lee, who also led the same department years ago, said, "I understand what she is going through."

Lee said Tsuhako isn't one to go for oversimplistic proposals.

"The good ones always analyze, assess the good, the bad, checks with others, looks at the facts and not make fly-by-night decisions, and Lori is one of them," Lee said. "That's why I believe she belongs in that job and I am supporting her."

During her opening remarks to the committee, Tsuhako said she has spent more than half her life as a professional social worker and has experienced its ups and downs.

She teared up, saying, "I care about helping people make a better life for themselves."

"All these years, have really in a way toughened my skin, (but) they haven't toughened my heart," she said. "I hope you'll allow me to continue this work at the department."

Responding to council member questions during the meeting, Tsuhako said she does not have the authority to execute a "sweep" of any area and that it something that multiple people decide on.

But she does have authority to send outreach workers to various sites in emergencies.

On Tuesday, the committee recommended the following appointments for approval: Kekuhaupio Akana as managing director, Victoria Takayesu as corporation counsel, Andrew Martin as prosecuting attorney, John Stufflebean as water supply director, Scott Teruya as finance director, Kathleen Aoki as planning director and Jordan Molina as public works director.

The appointments will be forwarded to the full council for final approval at its March 10 meeting.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

** This story contains a correction from its original version.