Meet Maui County’s next Mayor, Marc Hodges, and discuss with him the issues that are important to you.
WHEN: Saturday, September 4, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
WHERE: Joe and Vanessa Hartley’s Residence, 7990 Kula Hwy, Kula, MAP (1/2 mile past Mile Marker 15, entry on the right, through the gate, first driveway on the right).
DETAILS: 298-1755 or 876-1616.
ALL ARE WELCOME. LAHAINA SIDE. Meet Marc Hodges BBQ with Signwaving Afterwards. Monday the 6th, Labor Day at 5pm. Home of Jason and Becky Vizthum. Address is: 4044 Mahinahina PL. Lahaina MAP. Contact phone number is 808-214-4211 if anyone gets lost or has questions. Come have some fun!
We need jobs and we need them right now. We must rebuild our economy quickly. This requires new thinking and a fresh, dynamic approach to county government.
The latest national and international reports on jobs, unemployment, housing starts, and sovereign debt all indicate that we are in a slow-motion economic train wreck. Major Federal tax hikes starting in January, combined with a stifling new federal regulatory environment, are throwing more cold water on a struggling economic recovery. The threat of a double-dip recession is looming.
But there is good news. We citizens of Maui County have the means to overcome this challenge. It takes courage and teamwork. But we can do it.
Maui County must facilitate rather than retard economic activity. This means faster building permits and faster project approvals. But it also means taking a proactive approach to boosting diverse economic growth. And that requires a new approach to zoning enforcement.
About 80% of new job creation is attributed to small business. It makes sense to encourage small business. With a dearth of commercial and light industrial space available at affordable prices for small shops and start-ups, the clear choice is to boost appropriate home-based business as a small business incubator and economic pump-primer.
Maui County zoning tightly limits home-based business. This is an intentional planning outcome from the days when business was centralized and could be entirely separated from residential communities. But this artificial separation is not the way Maui was many years ago, and it’s no longer a valid economic model in today’s world of capital, labor and information flows.
Maui County’s ability to allow home-based business is restricted by the underlying state zoning layer. And the state is slow and difficult to change. What can Maui’s Mayor do to boost home-based business while still complying with state requirements and county code?
One step is to amend Maui County code to allow greater flexiblity. But the code change process is very slow and still does not address the underlying problem of state zoning strictures. What to do?
Mayor Arakawa’s approach from 2002 to 2006 was to ignore the law and turn a blind eye to home business (e.g. Temporary Vacation Rentals). Practical and effective in the short term, but this policy made home businesses into hostages of the Mayor’s office (as Mayor Tavares has amply demonstrated since then). Arakawa’s blind-eye approach also raised legitmate concerns about the corrosive effect of the County’s wilful noncompliance with its own code. Mayor Tavares’ approach was letter-of-the-law correct, but it cost us many jobs and businesses at a very bad time.
Neither of these approaches works. But there is a third way.
My team and I propose an administrative enforcement strategy which allows home business to flourish while protecting neighborhoods from unwanted impacts, and which keeps the county on the right side of state law and its own code. This strategy takes advantage of the fact that for most lands in question, the state has no practical means to enforce its own rules and relies largely on the county for zoning and land-use enforcement as they relate to most home business.
The strategy hinges on regulating home business based on measureable impacts instead of permissible activities. Instead of developing and trying to enforce a laundry list of home business types that may be permissible, Maui County can, in effect, simply allow as a result of its enforcement strategy any home business as long as the business is not criminal and does not generate any of a number of undesirable impacts; e.g. excessive noise, parking, traffic, pollution.
Scenario: County inspector conducts routine check of home business. If measureable impacts in excess of standards cannot be observed/recorded from the public street or adjoining complainant’s property, the case is closed.
Result: County meets its obligation to its own code and state law, the neighborhood is not overly impacted, the business continues, and the resulting jobs and economic growth benefit the community and Maui County.
Randomized, proactive measureable-impact-based regulation also has the advantage of being easier and cheaper to enforce, and harder to corrupt. Most importantly, it will allow home business to flourish while protecting our communities from impacts and providing compliance with the justifiable thrust of state and county law.
Cities and counties across the nation are struggling to reinvent themselves in time to survive. Maui County can lead the way with positive solutions such as this.
Mayoral candidate Marc Hodges said today that corruption in certain elements of Maui County government must be addressed.
Hodges said:
From certain inspectors to certain police officers and others, the reports of corruption of some county employees have grown to the point where the reputation of all county employees and the county as a whole has been tainted. Public confidence and trust in county operations is being affected and citizens’ rights have been violated.
As your Mayor, I will tackle corruption head on and will fire and seek prosecution of those corrupt individuals. Restoring full public trust in county government is a top priority.
Marc Hodges expressed appreciation today for Mayor Tavares’ work to cut $15 Million from Maui County’s $530 Million operating budget for FY 2011.
A former high-level Hawaii State program manager and Maui Police Officer, Hodges understands the hard work required in order to successfully cut government spending. In 2000 while working in his first year as a rookie street cop, Hodges successfully cut Maui County expenditures by $10 Million by creating and leading the team that revolutionized Maui Police operations through innovative management and in-house technology.
Hodges credits his fellow officers and frontline personnel as well as solid leaders in the Police Department for the dramatic success of the program which set a national standard and saved taxpayers millions while improving police morale, case clearance and public service.
Hodges said today that this same successful strategy can be applied to most Maui County operations. This strategy requires innovative and risk-taking leadership and empowering of frontline county personnel to tackle and solve problems. Benefits include reduced county spending, reduced outsourcing of key functions to mainland vendors thereby keeping more money here locally, reduced need for furloughs, and increased public service quality.
Hodges concluded:
“Our experience with the Maui Police Department proves that Maui County can lead the nation in innovative municipal management. Furthermore, we can increase Maui tourism by providing training here on Maui for mainland city and county officials who are struggling with budget cuts. We have the answer on how to best cut costs while improving service. People will love to come to Maui to learn our strategy. We can and should lead the way.”
Click here for PDF version of Hodges Campaign Card to share with your friends
Hodges Campaign Card Thumbnail
Hodges called again today for Maui County to speed up issuance of building permits.
“We’ve got people who want to build and people who want to work. The county needs to get out of the way”, Hodges said today.
As Mayor of Maui County, Hodges will issue building permits within 10 business days of receiving an application for projects less than $150,000 in value for single family residences.
Hodges’ plan as Mayor:
Cut county operating costs by 16% by streamlining operations. Hodges saved Maui County taxpayers $10 Million in his first year as a rookie cop by using modern management and technology. Just imagine what he can do for you as Mayor.
Stimulate growth by getting the County out of your way. Example: 10 day building permits.
Strengthen and diversify our economy by making Maui County a legal safe haven for technology innovators, startups and manufacturers. More info…
