WAILUKU – On Dec. 6, the Council and its committees will begin accepting oral testimony from Council district offices in Hana, Lanai, and Molokai, for Council and Council committee meetings held at the Council Chamber in Wailuku.

“Making these remote testimony sites available will allow a broader cross-section of our County’s communities to be heard without having to travel to Wailuku,” said Council Chair Danny Mateo. The initiative will implement the recent Charter amendment relating to interactive communications access, passed by the voters at the Nov. 6 general election. “In approving this new Charter requirement,” explained Mateo, “the voters clearly signaled their support of increased opportunities for input on the work of the Council.” Mateo continued, “The vote confirms that the people of our County recognize we are all in this together, and that the people of Hana and Lanai, and my neighbors in Molokai, should more easily be able to voice their opinions to the Council.”

The Council acted quickly following the election to put into place remote testimony sites it had been working on for some time.

Initially, access to the meeting in the Council Chamber will be accommodated by telephone from each of the district offices, which will serve as remote testimony sites. The district offices are located at the Hana Community Center, 5091 Uakea Road, Hana; the Lanai Community Center, 8th Street, Lanai City; and 100 Ainoa Street, Kaunakakai, Molokai. These communities should be aware that other district office services cannot be available while oral testimony is being accommodated, due to limited facility size, staffing, and other constraints.

As before, the Council and its committees will accept written testimony on an item at any time.

The Council’s Economic Development, Agriculture, and Recreation Committee will be the first to receive testimony from remote testimony sites at its meeting on Dec. 6. The procedure is expected to continue at the Council meeting on Dec. 7 and thereafter for meetings held in the Chamber. “We welcome the communities’ participation from these remote testimony sites,” said Mateo, “and ask for everyone’s patience as we continue to improve our interactive capabilities along the way.”

The meetings are open to the public. Meeting agendas are available on the County website. To receive meeting agendas via e-mail, please complete the on-line subscription form on the County website at www.mauicounty.gov. For more information, please contact the Committee staff at edr.committee@mauicounty.us or, for Council meetings, the Office of the County Clerk at county.clerk@mauicounty.us.

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