By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff WriterPOSTED: November 14, 2008The Maui NewsWAILUKU - Results of the 2008 election in Maui County could reinvigorate debate over the county's residency districts versus having full district representation on legislative bodies.In Maui County Council races, voters sent back to office every incumbent and two former council members. But three successful candidates might not have won if they were relying only on the voters in the districts in which they live.Perhaps one of the more intriguing results was that of Office of Hawaiian Affairs Molokai Trustee Colette Machado. As with the Maui County Council, trustees are elected on an at-large basis by all voters but are required to declare residency in a specific district or island.While she is a Molokai and Maui County resident, Machado lost the Friendly Isle vote as well as the rest of Maui County, with challenger Waipa Purdy taking 30.2 percent of the votes cast in Maui County to Machado's 27.9 percent - 15,739 to 14,539 votes.Statewide. Machado took 29.3 percent of the votes cast to 20.1 percent for Purdy - 133,415 for Machado to Purdy's 91,919 votes."I think it's plain as day that Maui County wanted a change," said Purdy, a retired Hawaiian Airlines customer service agent.Purdy said he believes Machado lost the people's support when she backed the Molokai Properties plan to develop Laau Point for luxury homes in exchange for putting nearly one-third of the island's land in trusts and easements controlled by Molokai citizens groups. The deal was brokered in meetings held for years between the company, the community and the federal government."It was overwhelming that the people did not want Laau, and she did not listen to her constituents," Purdy said.There are other criticisms of Machado, but Purdy said he didn't want to get into those details. The reason he decided to run is because people kept asking him, he said."I'd rather not get into the differences; I have nothing against Colette," he said. "I've never been in this arena before."Purdy said he ran a grassroots campaign funded with a credit card. He held no fundraisers but managed to travel to each Hawaiian island twice, always staying with relatives.When asked if he'd run again in four years, Purdy said, "Cool your jets, brother. I don't know. I don't think so."Purdy said he won the battle but lost the war in Honolulu. On Maui, Machado did best in the West Maui precincts, which have a view of Molokai, while her competitor had a strong showing in Upcountry and the north shore communities where there are Native Hawaiian populations. Machado also took Lanai, 350 to 219."I'm sure that that's the backlash, and the same people who oppose the (Molokai) Ranch," said Machado.Machado, who was born and raised on Molokai, said she plans on dying there someday. She has been an OHA trustee since 1996 and said the loss of support within her home community hurt. But she was also defiant that she must be doing something right because she was still re-elected by a wide margin."I feel even after Laau and the (Molokai) Ranch closure, I have the experience of not only doing community service, but sitting on government boards and commissions," Machado said. "I am still committed to serving them and looking out for them. I have consistently delivered."Machado said she worked for 4 years on the Laau Point compromise, which also would have reopened the Kaluakoi hotel and funded other community improvements. Now the ranch and Molokai Lodge are closed, too, after a bitterly contested rejection of the plan by residents and subsequent decisions - many say a result of recrimination - by owner Molokai Properties Ltd.Residents are left struggling to make ends meet, Machado said. Plans to buy the ranch and build wind farms won't put enough people back to work, she said."I always supported a balanced economic approach," Machado said. "Subsistence is great, but people with a mortgage want to collect a paycheck. For some, that's all they want to do."Almost 51 percent of voters - or 229,919 people - didn't mark a box in the contest, which is not uncommon because OHA politics are considered by many to be strictly the kuleana of Native Hawaiians.Purdy doesn't agree, though."I was surprised so many ballots were left empty," he said. "I'm part haole, and I believe we should all have a say. OHA matters to everyone."Don Couch lost the contest for the South Maui residency seat to former 11-term Council Member Wayne Nishiki, with 21,251 to 23,294 votes. But Couch won out in the five precincts in the Kihei region in which both men live."I think people voted for me in Kihei because they know me," said Couch, who is a Kihei Community Association board member and Kalama Park Action Team volunteer. "They know what I do for them."And I beat him by about 1,000 votes," Couch said. "I still think it's a popularity contest in other parts of the county."Considering the residency controversy still swirling around Council Member-elect Sol Kaho'ohalahala, it probably won't come as a surprise to many that he did not win on his native Lanai. Kaho'ohalahala, who previously held the Lanai residency seat and was elected to the state House of Representatives for the district that includes Lanai, overwhelmingly defeated his opponent.But at the Lanai High and Elementary School polling site, John Ornellas - who has complained repeatedly that Kaho'ohalahala has lived for years in Lahaina and not on Lanai - won with 475 to 222 votes, or 61.1 percent to 28.6 percent.The issue of Kaho'ohalahala's residency remains in legal limbo. The county Board of Elections agreed with several Lanai residents who challenged Kaho'ohalahala's voter registration on Lanai and ruled that Kaho'ohalahala is a Lahaina resident.However, the decision, which was appealed to state court, may not disqualify Kaho'ohalahala from serving on the council, county officials have said.Kaho'ohalahala did not respond to requests for comment on the precinct returns.Couch and uncontested Council Member Michael Victorino are among several candidates and incumbents who suggested that perhaps it's time to re-examine the Maui County Charter when it comes to council seats.One thought is to go back to having a representative voted from five to seven residency districts and two or three elected at-large without residency requirements - similar to what the charter provided between 1977 and 1993.However, it would have to be some sort of hybrid because those versions were abandoned because Central Maui candidates tended to dominate the at-large seats, Couch said.Nishiki said he was reluctant to speculate about why he lost his home district. But he said he believed that it's probably because a lot of people move in and out of the south side, and he has been out of the political limelight for four years. He also noted that his opponent spent about $57,000 to his $4,200."Don pretty well tried to buy the election," Nishiki said. "For people who knew me in other areas of the county, they didn't get bought."East Maui residency seat challenger Lucienne de Naie, who lives in Huelo, also performed well in her precinct. De Naie captured more votes in the Haiku precincts and at Kaulanapueo Church, with 202 to 69 votes, or 67.3 percent to 23 percent.But first-term Council Member Bill Medeiros, who is from Hana, won in Keanae and Hana by large margins with 52.3 percent to 36 percent, or 45 to 31 votes, and 69.9 percent to 25.7 percent, or 395 to 145 votes, respectively."I don't think it's anything earth shattering," de Naie said. "People vote for who they know, and I've lived in here for 23 years."I think some of the results we've seen are racial, too. In places like Kihei and West Maui, the people are more likely to accept candidates with haole last names. Whereas people in Central Maui tend to trust the names they recognize and grew up with and feel best understand their needs."There was one other notable exception to the countywide vote results in several precincts.First time candidate Kai Nishiki, who is a daughter of Wayne Nishiki, captured a couple of triple-digit wins in Haiku over incumbent Mike Molina. She took the Haiku Elementary School vote, 600 to 455; Haiku Community Center, 748-402; and Kaulanapueo Church, 183-83.Molina won re-election to his fifth term in the residency seat for Makawao-Haiku-Paia, taking other precincts in the region, but by tighter margins, including Kalama Intermediate School, 646 to 476; Eddie Tam Memorial Center, 425-404; and Paia Community Center, 227-199.* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
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