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Election could lead to major changes for Maui County Council

A kalo farmer, airport manager and former council member could shake up the Maui County Council come January.

The Maui County Council is a group of nine people who vote on bills relating to housing, water and more. They also manage the county's budget, deciding what programs to fund and how much to give.

This year, three new members are projected to join the County Council, and two incoming members have said they will prioritize local families and natural resources over money from the construction industry.

If the results hold, the new council members will join four others who have focused on community-led land and water stewardship initiatives, creating a potential "supermajority" on Maui County Council.

Bobby Pahia

Bobby Pahia, a 40-year taro farmer, is ready to bring his expertise to the Maui County Council as he has secured more than 30,000 votes -- over 60% -- in the race for the Upcountry seat.

Pahia brings a nontraditional background to politics. He is the founding director of Hawaiʻi Taro Farm, a 300-acre farm in Waikapu that grows native plant kalo in old sugarcane and pineapple plantation fields.

"Being a kalo farmer, it puts you in a position to identify all the bottlenecks in our food system," Pahia said. "Not only that, it also puts you in a position that you need to track legislation and policy that either supports food security or not."

Being a farmer also means he has to wear many hats.

"You have to be a meteorologist. You need to be a soil biologist. You need to be an agronomist. You need to be a businessman," he said. "There's many skill sets that the farmer has to possess. So this is the kind of experience that I bring to the table after 40 years of farming."

Pahia ran against Jon Yokouchi, who received over 12,000 votes, or more than 25%. Maui County Council Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura served as the Upcountry council representative before she decided to run for mayor.

As a council member, Pahia said he wants to find ways to direct Maui's existing water supply to the community instead of private owners. To protect housing, Pahia said he supports land trusts to stop outsider speculation from driving up prices. To address food security, Pahia said he wants to invest in local farmers to grow and distribute food.

"Whatever we do, we do it for 'āina and for our community first," Pahia said.

Pahia said he not only wants to represent the people who voted for him but also the concerns of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who may continue to live on Maui.

"I got all these votes, all these people that voted for me," Pahia said. "I feel, No. 1, honored, but also I feel a great kuleana, a responsibility, now to represent them, their needs and their concerns. I don't take it lightly."

Pahia's campaign was the third-best funded this year. The campaign received over $64,000 in reported campaign contributions, but only about $3,000 of that money came from big donors that donated to multiple campaigns.

Some of Pahia's biggest donors included Hoʻomana Farms and Hale Pono Youth Shelter.

Marvin Moniz

Marvin Moniz was the most-funded County Council candidate coming into the election after raising more than $103,000 from 160 donors. The campaigning appears to have paid off, as Moniz pulled over 25,000 votes (51.4%) on election night.

Moniz said winning the race felt like "it was in my blood." Moniz has 20 years of experience with Hawaiian Airlines and 20 years of experience managing airports. His uncle also managed airlines before transitioning to County Council leadership.

Moniz said he doesn't come from a government background, but his work managing airports has made him strong at working with government at every level.

"I answer to the state. We answer to our directors. We work with state legislators, and we work with our congressional delegation," Moniz said. "So there's a lot that we relate to and time that I can bring from that experience."

Asked what residents can expect from him as a councilmember, Moniz said he would like to start by hosting community town hall meetings for people to share their concerns.

On different bills, Moniz said you can't expect him to vote one way or the other.

"People always ask if I will be 'the five' or 'the four' on the council," Moniz said at a Lahaina Strong candidate forum. "I like to say, 'I'm the nine.'"

Moniz's campaign filings show a wide range of people donated the $2,000 maximum to his campaign, including unions representing warehouse workers, plumbers, pipefitters and electricians, painters and tapers.

Castaway Construction, which built Kapalua Airport, also donated $2,000 to Moniz's campaign, as did the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association and Ledcor, a construction company that develops luxury apartments in South Maui.

Moniz said his campaign fundraising comes from his 20 years of experience working with Hawaiian Airlines and managing Maui's airports.

To guide his decisions, Moniz said he will think about what's best for Maui's future generations.

Kelly King

It appears a former South Maui council member will be returning to the seat she previously held.

Kelly King, vice president of Pacific Biodiesel, a renewable energy company, represented South Maui from 2017 to 2023.

King ran for mayor in 2022 and did not seek re-election to her council seat that year, as Tom Cook, a retired carpenter and contractor, was elected as South Maui’s County Council member.

In 2024, Cook defended his seat by a slim margin against King, winning by just 97 votes.

This year, King is on her way to notching another victory. King remains ahead with 23,686 votes to Cook's 20,942, based on the latest results available Wednesday morning. This puts King up by more than 2,000 votes and over 5 percentage points.

If elected, King said she will work differently than Cook, and she won't take money from construction companies or developers.

King said she also hopes to reintroduce luxury development safeguards to the South Maui Community Plan. This would include different requirements like a building cost analysis before new projects are approved.

"We have to stop all this luxury development that’s going to take all of our water and resources," King said.

King also wants to investigate stopping the data center that's going up in South Maui and banning Flock surveillance cameras.

She said she plans to protect the county's wetlands by fixing Maui's wetland overlay map and advancing a hotel moratorium, or a policy that limits the amount of hotels and vacation rentals that can be built for a certain amount of time.

The race for South Maui's council seat was the most well-funded race this year, and Cook's campaign raised about three times more than King's.

However, King’s campaign has the largest in-district donors of any candidate. Of King’s 25 donors, 17 come from Kihei.

"I don’t feel like it matters where the money comes from, but the money comes probably more from South Maui because South Maui people know me and trust me and believe in me," King said.

Yiming Fu is reporting for The Maui News as part of the Maui Nui Media and Creativity Collaborative Investigative Elections Reporting Fellowship, which supports expanded reporting on Maui County elections.