Campaign will launch talks on Maui's future
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
KAHULUI, Maui — A campaign to bring together more than 1,000 people to plan Maui County's future will kick off today with door-to-door canvassing by community leaders and volunteers.
Officials will be knocking on doors trying to persuade residents to join what is being described as an opportunity to define the county's future in a dialogue about community values and priorities.
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The project, called Focus Maui Nui, is sponsored by the Maui Economic Development Board, Maui County, the Maui Chamber of Commerce and several nonprofit and community-based organizations.
Mayor Alan Arakawa will be among the speakers at an 8:30 a.m. kick-off gathering at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului. That will be followed by two hours of door-to-door canvassing, during which residents will be asked to host or attend small meetings designed to set the community's priorities for the future.
"I hope residents will seize this chance to shape Maui's future. This is about our islands and our future," the mayor said.
During the project, which runs through July, officials hope to convene as many as 100 small-group forums featuring structured discussions and exercises guided by trained facilitators. There will be town meetings for feedback on the findings, and the process will be revisited annually in an effort to hold leaders accountable.
Already, the Maui County Council passed a resolution promising to incorporate the Focus Maui Nui findings in their planning efforts, and Arakawa has pledged to use the data in the General Plan process and in developing the county's economic development strategy.
The effort originated last July during a Maui Economic Development Board conference on Maui's economic future. Many of the 150 attendees agreed that the county needed a vision for the future.
While there have been numerous community planning efforts in the past, this one hopes to focus on a comprehensive list of issues while bringing as many new voices to the planning process as possible, said Jeanne Skog, president and CEO of the Maui Economic Development Board.
"For years now, people in this county have been saying that the decisions about our islands' land, programs and development need to come from the residents — and not from special interests," Skog said.
The project has momentum. The campaign starts today, but there are already enough people signed up to hold 30 or 40 groups, Skog said.
