REMOTE TESTIMONY: INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Maui County is unique in the United States as the only municipality consisting of three populated islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In 2012, the Maui County Council established an interactive communication system enabling residents in the county’s more distant regions to testify before the council and its committees remotely, without having to expend the time and money necessary to travel long distances to the county seat in Wailuku, located in an area known as Central Maui. Residents have embraced the program, with many contributing their opinions, ideas and facts in audio testimony via the new system. Council members are pleased with the enhanced mechanism for receiving vital input from their constituents throughout the county, who are heard and recorded at the Council Chamber via speakerphone. In November 2012, voters approved an amendment to the county charter proposing the establishment of a vehicle for remote testimony. The system debuted in December 2012 and is now an integral component of the council’s meetings.