Councilmember Stacy Crivello’s opening remarks at the June 6 Council Meeting:
I’m starting my 6th month as a freshman council member. I am often asked by my constituents: “How’s it going on the county council?” “Is it what I expected?” “What’s it like working with your council colleagues?” “How’s your staff?” My usual reply is, “It’s all good.” Today, I would like to share my reflective response to these inquiries:
Serving and working with my colleagues, my staff, and Maui County’s governance arena remind me that the spirit of Aloha thrives amongst us as a legislative body of policy-makers, working to resolve. We resolve by referring to the County Charter, Maui County Code and ordinances that were adopted by previous councils. Within this realm of references, we look for solutions working with objectivity and the pursuit of Aloha. To me, the Aloha Spirit is more than an attitude of friendly acceptance. It refers to a powerful way to resolve any problem, accomplish any goal, and to achieve any state of mind that one desires.
Living ALOHA is living with warmth, compassion and genuine caring:
A stands for Akahai, meaning kindness, to be expressed with tenderness.
L stands for Lokahi, meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony.
O stands for `Olu `olu meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness.
H stands for Ha’aha’a, meaning humility to be expressed with modesty.
A stands for Ahonui, meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.
These are traits of character that express the working philosophy of our host culture and all those who came before us, no matter what ethnicity. Aloha is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence.
Like the sound of music, we all harmonize in different notes as we perform our duties and obligations for our constituents in with Aloha.
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