Maui County Council fails to carry out final wishes of late colleague

WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Maui County Council will not carry out the final wishes of their late colleague Tasha Kama.

They failed to come to an agreement on Tuesday to appoint a successor to Kama’s Kahului seat.

After council member Kama died unexpectedly on October 26th, members had 30 days to decide on her replacement.

Tuesday was the deadline.

The meeting lasted less than an hour, but it was clear the council was divided.

The nominees include Virgilio Agcolicol, a former sugar plantation worker, Vietnam War veteran, retired banker, and the director of the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce.

Council member Shane Sinenci nominated Carol Lee Kamekona, a retired Navy veteran and community organizer.

“I put forth Aunty Carol’s name as member Kama’s replacement because she ran alongside member Kama in three separate campaigns. She also answered those ever-pervading questions that we all had to answer. She knocked on doors, each time expressing her willingness to serve and her love for the Maui community,” said Sinenci.

Before Kama died, she asked that Kauanoe Batangan continue her work.

Batangan is the former deputy director for the county’s transportation department. He led a division in the Office of Recovery which was established in response to the 2023 fires.

“Aunty Tasha did request that we select him. She didn’t tell us what to do, but she did request it, and I don’t know about anybody else, but I have never really been asked to carry out someone’s final wishes before, and so it is my privilege to do this nomination today and to support him as well. I do feel like he’s a qualified candidate,” said council member Nohelani Uu-Hodgins.

Batangan is also the current executive director of the Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization, a role council member Tamara Paltin felt is too important for him to leave.

“He is doing really important work and for us with the MPO, and when you hear him talk about transportation, I think to myself, all this forward progress that we’re making, we’re not going to be able to find anyone as good as him, and a lot of our projects that he is working on will likely stall,” Paltin said, who voted for Agcolicol.

Despite Kama’s final wish, four council members voted against Batangan.

“People would then hold me accountable for voting for a specific person and if that individual’s values, priorities do not line with my own, how do I explain that to the voters?” said council member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who voted for Kamekona.

Members Uu-Hodgins, Yuki Lei Sugimura, Tom Cook and Alice Lee voted for Batangan. But that was not enough. It needed five votes to pass.

The decision now heads to Mayor Richard Bissen.

According to county spokesperson Laksmi Abraham, the mayor is still vetting the candidates.

There is no deadline for him to make the appointment.