Marnie Masuda: Your vote in Saturday’s primary matters for Maui’s working families
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Primary elections are always important, but the Hawai'i primary on Aug. 8 is one of the most important in recent memory. No matter who you are, no matter what you believe, no matter how young (if you're 18 or over) or old, whether you're well-off, middle class or struggling, this primary election will affect your life, and shape the social, cultural, political and economic trajectory of Maui County and Hawai'i.
Most Hawai'i residents are deeply concerned about the insane cost of living. The price of food, rent, utilities, gas and services seems to go up every week, while wages have been stagnant. Some folks shrug it off as the price of living in paradise, but others notice a glaring reality: Maui County workers are underpaid and fleeced, while profits for developers, healthcare behemoths, oil companies and multi-national corporations continue to grow exponentially.
It's a recipe for economic, environmental and social collapse. We're watching it happen. On Aug. 8, 2023, Maui County lost an entire beloved community, at least 102 lives, and countless local working families, in a tragedy caused in large part by decades of decisions that placed private profits ahead of public safety.
This Saturday, we have the chance to send a clear message: Maui voters want elected leaders to put working people first, to protect our eroding civil rights, to stand up for the rule of law and constitutional rights even as the Trump regime attempts to dismantle them.
We want leaders whose policy and budget decisions support and advance basic human needs and our quality of life. We need to protect people and ʻāina from accelerating climate disasters. We want families to have free or affordable childcare and high quality public education. We do not need more carte-blanche deals with developers to "build, baby, build!"
We know what we want, and we know what we donʻt need, yet here we are year after year with too many of us barely able to cover rent, let alone manage a mortgage on an "affordable" million-dollar home. We need leaders committed to transparent governing and public-centered decision-making who place public interest at the center of every decision. We need leaders who move forward with integrity, and who do the right thing even when -- especially when -- the right thing may upset deep-pocket donors. In short, we need real progressive leadership in Maui County and throughout Hawai'i.
This primary is not an "all Democrats/Republicans are the same. I'll vote for my party in November" kind of primary.
There are some candidates on the ballot who put working families ahead of corporate interests. Some candidates have received major campaign support from huge, powerful PACs like "For a Better Tomorrow," Pacific Resource Partnership's Super Political Action Committee. The top two candidates who received the biggest chunks of PRP's $12 million war chest to support their campaigns are Maui County Council Vice Chair and mayoral candidate Yuki Lei Sugimura and Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami, who's running for lieutenant governor. I don't know about you, but when I hear "$12 million war chest" and "top two recipients," I wonder why. Then I start digging for answers.
It doesn't take me long to see who puts struggling working families first, who represents all the people who can't afford to donate to campaigns or even think too much about politics because they're working three jobs just to survive. It's easy to hear and see who tries to convince themselves and their constituents that a "robust private sector" will take care of workers and their families. It's not hard to notice who funnels public money to corporate interests and wealthy investors. If I listen closely, I can hear who extolls the necessity and inevitability of "public-private partnerships."
I ask, "who is channeling public tax dollars right back to the public?" Here's what I discover again and again: It's never the people who are getting the most support from any "war chest," especially one with $12 million in it.
Most people in Maui County aren't looking to build a grand manse and fill the garage with a dozen Lamborghinis. Most working families want a living wage and reasonable housing costs. They want to feed their families without amassing credit card debt. Most people want to have enough free time to spend with their family and friends, as well as unimpeded access to local beaches, parks and hiking trails, without having to wade through throngs of visitors or fight for a parking space. Most of us want schools and communities without the threat of gun violence. Most of us want to preserve the natural, wild beauty of Maui, and to help our families and friends return home as soon as possible. We want to leave the children and grandchildren of Maui Nui the opportunity to live healthy, happy, affordable local-style lives. This ineffable truth is what makes Maui different from any place else on earth.
Which brings us to the primary election this Saturday. On the third anniversary of the Lahaina and Kula fires, let's all vote. Let's vote for the ones most likely to protect us from overdevelopment and overtourism. Let's vote for the ones who believe in a robust, responsive public sector, who put the safety and interests of local working people above moneyed interests and corporate profits. Let's vote for the ones with the courage to protect all of us from Trump's dangerous federal overreach.
If you haven't mailed or dropped off your ballot, you may still vote in person at one of the five Maui County Voter Service Centers until 7 pm on August 8. Find more information at elections.hawaii.gov/voter-service-centers-and-places-of-deposit/.
Marnie Masuda is a Lead Organizer for Maui Indivisible. For more information about Indivisible, log on to indivisiblehawaii.org/chapters/maui/ or request to join Maui Indivisible: Fighting for a People Powered Democracy on Facebook.