Viewpoint by Sol. P. Kaho'ohalahala
February 23, 2010
POB 630044
444 Fraser Ave.
Lāna'i City, Lāna'i
pili_sol@yahoo.com
(808) 463-9550

Over the past seventeen months, I have been the subject of more than thirty Maui News articles. I have been accused by a handful of disgruntled voters of not living on Lāna'i. This newspaper has assisted in serving as my judge and jury--even urging me in an editorial to resign from elected office. I stand as an example of how any law-abiding individual can be subjected to harassing lawsuits, gossip and innuendo.

For the record, I live on Lāna'i. This place is the core of who I am. Lāna'i is now and will forever
be my home. I was born on Lāna'i and grew up here. My family has seen seven generations on
this island. Over the course of a lifetime, I have explored every inch of this place; I know it
intimately. As a young man, I worked on the plantation. After leaving to go to university, I came home to Lāna'i.

My wife and I made a home on Lāna'i and our children were born here. As social and economic
change swept through our island, I became increasingly involved with community groups and
organizations. Ultimately, I decided to enter public service. Campaigning and holding public office meant spending many nights away from my family, something that was not easy. Such is the reality shared by legislators and council members from outer islands and rural areas; we must leave our homes to serve our districts, to convene, and to campaign.

Through two terms on the Maui County Council and two terms in the State Legislature, I
represented Lāna'i, as well as the surrounding “canoe district” of Moloka'i, parts of Maui,
Kaho'olawe, and Kalaupapa. I later accepted a position with the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve
Commission (KIRC) and moved to Maui to work in KIRC’s Wailuku office.

In 2008, with critical economic challenges facing our islands, and at the urging of several friends and family members, I decided to run for Lāna'i seat on the Maui County Council. Before officially entering the race, I openly discussed my voter status with the County Clerk. I explained that during my entire life I had lived and voted on Lāna'i, but that I had changed my residence and voter registration to Lāhaina for three years while working at KIRC. I informed the Clerk that I would be moving back to our family home on Lāna'i, the same home where my family had lived for decades. After consulting the County Charter and the State Constitution, the Clerk accepted my new voter registration and assured me that I met all of the legal residency requirements for candidates.

In October of 2008, after it was clear that I had won the primary election, an unhappy group of
complainants contacted the County Clerk, challenging my residency and demanding that my
name be removed from the ballot. Among the group were two of my opponents, along with a
handful of their supporters and a campaign manager. Ironically, also among the group pointing
the finger and questioning my residency were newcomers to the island, as well as part-time
residents. With accusations that have traveled up to the Hawai'i Supreme Court, the group has
filed several legal assaults aimed at depriving me of my residency status in order to remove me
from office.

As a native Hawaiian, and more specifically. a native Lāna'ian, my worldview is closely aligned with my ancestral home and culture. It has been profoundly painful to my family and me to have the very foundations of my identity attacked in such a callous manner--and all for the political vindictiveness. That a group would attempt to dispossess me, or any person, of one's innate cultural foundation is deeply distressing, and the implications are infinitely more disturbing than the outcome of a political contest. Try to imagine what it would feel like to be stripped of your ancestral heritage and home for purely political purposes.

Lāna'i is my home and one day, it will be where my bones are laid to rest. Meanwhile, my focus
remains on the work of the council. This council term requires that my planning committee
complete the Maui County General Policy Plan by March 2010, and the Maui Island Plan by
October 2010. Beyond that, the council must deliberate and adopt a balanced FY2011 county
budget by June 2010. I will continue to work tirelessly for the people of Lāna'i and Maui County
until the last day of my term.
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Comments

  • @Kaohi- Mahalo for keeping in touch. Have been faced with malihini on Lana'i seeking to displace me from my home. 700 years mo'okuauhau, 7th generation Lana'i, serving my island community and confronted by mean spirited malihini!!! Auwe, anti-Hawaiian racism? Is it possible that it exists today? It sure feels like it, smells like it, tastes like it.

    @Robert - Mahalo for your comments. It is time to ho'ohui and kako'o! I am continuing the stand to be.
  • Sol, The current local news stated that you were living in Lahaina. You were born and raised on Lana'i and that will always be your home. Whose laws are you abiding? America's? or Hawaiian Kingdom's Law?

    We Hawaiian Nationals Kanaka Maoli's have bigger problems ahead. Lost of our lands, culture, no respect for our dead kupuna bones, military occupation, pollution, etc.

    It is time we ALL STAND TOGETHER AND FIGHT FOR JUSTICE!

    I think you know what you need to do.
    Aloha no,
    Keli'iKanaka'ole
  • in case you forgot me, we go back to mits Hoala Kanwai. I'm living on Waianae Homestead now.
  • Sol how can we help, Lani is your home so what's going on write back talk to us let us know what we can do.
    Kaohi (Luwella Leonardi)
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