Remove ImagesMaui County
The Maui 10
Who’s the county’s most powerful player?
March 09, 2006
RANK / PREVIOUS / COMPANY
1 6 Alexander & Baldwin
2 1 Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
3 2 Maui Land & Pineapple
4 3 Hawaiian Telcom
5 4 Maui Electric Co.
6 5 Trex Enterprises
7 7 Monsanto Hawai'i
8 8 Wailuku Water Co.
9 9 Dowling Co.
10 10 Makena Resort
A&B shoots to the top this week on news that the powerful landowner wined and dined five Maui County Councilmembers—Bob Carroll, Riki Hokama, Dain Kane, Mike Molina and Joe Pontanilla—on Feb. 28 at Mama's Fish House. And they didn't even invite Michelle Anderson, Jo Anne Johnson or Danny Mateo, who recently ran afoul of the local development community for opposing MLP's Kapalua Mauka. Sure the big dinner—"just a social gathering," A&B consultant Mercer "Chubby" Vicens told me—got a splashy write-up in the March 3 Maui News, but still: How many developers do you know with projects pending before the county can invite six council members to a very pricey joint like Mama's, get five to show—Charmaine Tavares declined her invitation—and, according to Vicens, pay for their own meals and beverages? That's real power, folks. MTW