The Money Behind the Agenda — Maui Council, July 27–28, 2026
A pre-meeting civic briefing: this week’s real agenda items set beside the public record, so the community can testify from the facts before the vote, not after. Everything is sourced and framed as a question — never an accusation. One standard for every official.
Same approach the money-in-politics watchdogs use (OpenSecrets, MapLight, FollowTheMoney): for each item we name who benefits, read the committee record for where it changed, tally each decider’s money from those interested parties, add any county contracts or land entitlements they hold, and set the vote beside the money. Every figure is primary-sourced; correlation is shown, not called proof.
1 · This week’s items — what they do, who benefits, what to ask
2 · The money behind the deciders
| Official | Raised | Real-estate $ (share) |
|---|---|---|
| Uʻu-Hodgins, Nohelani | $233,353 | $64,650 · 28% |
| Lee, Alice (Chair) | $157,831 | $29,600 · 19% |
| Bissen, Richard (Mayor) | $665,271 | $102,435 · 15% |
| Sugimura, Yuki (V-Chair) | $354,610 | $36,840 · 10% |
| Paltin, Tamara | $79,007 | $7,350 · 9% |
| Rawlins-Fernandez, Keani | $111,197 | $1,600 · 1% |
| Sinenci, Shane | $47,902 | $0 |
| Batangan, Kauanoe | $19,940 | $0 |
Source: Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission. Money is lawful; the point is to show it beside the seat.
3 · How the method reads a vote — Honuaʻula / Wailea 670
2008 — approved under a 50% affordable rule (~700 affordable units). 2014 — the County cut the requirement 50%→25%. Aug 13, 2025 — the Council voted 5–4 to approve the amendments (~1,150 units, affordable floor now 288); a move to restore 450 on-site affordable units failed 4–5.
| Vote | Member | Real-estate $ (share) |
|---|---|---|
| YES | Uʻu-Hodgins | $64,650 · 28% |
| YES | Lee | $29,600 · 19% |
| YES | Sugimura | $36,840 · 10% |
| YES | Kama | n/a |
| YES | Cook | none on file |
| NO | Paltin | $7,350 · 9% |
| NO | Rawlins-Fernandez | $1,600 · 1% |
| NO | Sinenci | $0 |
| NO | Johnson | none on file |
The three YES votes with the most real-estate money (Uʻu-Hodgins 28%, Lee 19%, Sugimura 10%) approved the reduced floor; the NO bloc held the members with little or none. Correlation, not proof — so the record raises the question, it does not answer it.
Developers and their interests arrive with attorneys and registered lobbyists; residents show up alone. At every Council meeting the public deserves its own counsel — a People’s Counsel / Public Advocate funded to argue the resident and public-trust interest in land, water, budget, and entitlement decisions, so the record is not argued by one side only. (A proposal for public debate.)