Lucienne de Naie for Maui County Council

Lucienne de Naie - Achievements

Researched and wrote 200-page report on Maui's water resources and presented it to county and community groups.
Long time investigative reporter for Maui newspapers.
Frequent speaker on water, land use, historical and cultural issues.
Researcher, advisor and lecturer, Malama Makena project.
Researcher and lecturer, "Exploring our South Maui Heritage."
Researcher and editor, "A Visitor's View of Paradise", a report on visitor preferences for Maui's future.
Producer, "Malama Ma`alaea", one hour documentary film.
Researcher and co-producer, "Passing the Gift: Malama Honokowai", documentary film accepted for the Wailea Film Festival.
Small business owner
Grant writer for local non-profit organizations.

Lucienne de Naie – A Brief Biography

“Ask Lucienne, She’ll know.” “Ask Lucienne. She’ll do it”. That’s a phrase repeated across the island in recent years whenever people talk about land use, water management, housing, tax reform, community concerns, the arts or local culture.

They’re talking about Lucienne deNaie, a quietly effective and humble 20-year Huelo resident and community activist with an unmatched record of service, advocacy and understanding of the issues that face the people of Maui County today.

“Lucienne de Naie is more qualified to sit on (the County) Council than most of the incumbents and should have gotten herself elected to public office at least a decade ago,” said Maui Time newspaper.

It’s no surprise de Naie is so knowledgeable and effective. She has been working for the community and the environment since high school, when she convinced school administrators to allow students to create a senior garden where there was once only concrete then led the building and planting effort.

Lucienne de Naie has amassed a list of honors and accomplishments far too extensive to detail here. Highlights include her role as honorary mayor of a small town in Southern California, being chosen for a citizens advisory committee updating the County General Plan, official recognition by the governor for her years of stewardship of public lands, and her selection to work on the Hawaiian Tourism Authority’s Strategic plan, the Mayor’s Open Space Zoning Advisory Committee and the Keoneoio Task Force.

She is also the author of a well-regarded 200-page report on Maui’s water sources, is a founding member of Maui Cultural Lands, Inc., a non-profit land trust currently restoring acres of cultural sites in Honokowai Valley and of the Maui Coastal Land Trust.

With a resume like this, it would be easy to regard de Naie as a bookish intellectual surrounded by stacks of paper. The truth is you’re more likely to see her leading Sierra Club hikes, cleaning up modern day trash from ancient sites along the Old King’s Highway, preparing what she calls “international vegetarian cuisine”, gardening or taking in a play or concert with longtime partner Daniel Grantham, who runs an appliance repair business.

Born into an immigrant family with roots in Russia and Italy, de Naie feels a kinship with working people who, just like her family, struggle to have a decent home and to provide their children with the opportunity to live and succeed on their island home.

She believes that the effort to provide homes for local families first and to protect our natural and cultural resources is a fight for the heart and soul of the islands. If we don’t act quickly and effectively, she believes Maui will become a commodity, not a community.

De Naie, who likes to call herself a ‘practical visionary’, has run a number of small businesses, including designing and selling her own hand-crafted jewelry, managing a small chain of gift shops and currently, as a free-lance researcher and grant writer.