The county manager said the “visioning process” for the new department was put on hold when response and recovery efforts for the Aug. 8 fires took priority.
Cammy Clark
Cammy Clark joined Civil Beat in January 2024 to report about Maui. Her journalism career began in Washington, D.C., and has included stops in Maryland, Florida and California, with her stories appearing in more than 200 publications.
After growing up in a small town of 3,000 in New Hampshire, she bolted for the big city of Washington, D.C. to attend American with a goal of becoming an investigative journalist like Woodward or Bernstein. But life serendipitously took her in a different direction. A stint as the sports editor of her college newspaper led to 20 plus years as a pioneering female professional sports journalist.
Her first job after college was for NBC Sports, working for The George Michael Sports Machine.
She also covered all the Washington professional sports teams as a stringer for United Press International; was a sports copy editor for The Washington Post; and a sports editor of two weekly newspapers in Maryland. Many of the jobs were held simultaneously for experience and to have enough money to pay her rent, college loans and beer tabs.
In 1990, she decided she needed more sunshine and became a sportswriter for The St. Petersburg Times in Florida (now the Tampa Bay Times), which is owned by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. She became the newspaper's first beat writer for the then new franchise, the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 1996, she moved west to cover the NHL and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for The Orange County Register in California. Over nine years, she traveled across the United States and Canada to report on nearly 800 hockey games and nine Stanley Cup playoffs.
For the new millennium, she took a break from ice rinks to travel the world by bicycle with Odyssey 2000. The one-year adventure of a lifetime took her to 41 countries on six continents. She biked about 15,000 miles, with only four crashes. She survived the Mountain of Death in Costa Rica, running over a chicken in Malaysia and eating mystery meat in China.
Upon returning to reality, she went to work for the Miami Herald as its auto sportswriter. She got a crash course in NASCAR and the business of car racing. But when the Florida Keys bureau chief position became available, she moved to Key West and spent nearly a decade writing about all aspects of the touristy island chain: environment, business, crime, courts, government, hurricanes, tourism, art, culture, and all things quirk. Stories included county jail inmates scamming the IRS, Cuban exiles setting off fireworks by boat to make Fidel Castro mad, and an intriguing court case of government fraud involving the county’s deceased mayor and The Prince of Darkness.
While in the Florida Keys, she spent 3 ½ years as the public information officer for Monroe County. During that time, the county was hit by Category 4 Hurricane Irma. She led the county’s communications during the disaster, which was quite the challenge after the storm with no cell phone or Internet service.
In 2019, she moved to Maui after her husband retired from a 30-year career in law enforcement. She worked three years for Pacific Media Group as a writer and editor. Her husband works as a dive boat captain.
Cammy’s passions include diving, paddleboarding, tennis, hiking, cycling, golf, trivia night, star gazing, whale watching, local music, photography/videography, exploring new places, rooting for the Patriots — and hanging out with her husband, two cats, family and friends.
Green Won’t Issue Vacation Rental Moratorium For Maui
The governor says sufficient housing has been secured for fire survivors but his administration still plans to crack down on illegal rentals.
Maui Mayor Unveils $1.7 Billion Budget To Help County Navigate ‘Daunting Journey’ Ahead
The $429 million increase over last year’s budget primarily comes from outside grants related to the fire recovery and higher property taxes.
$159M Job To Clean Up Lahaina’s Commercial District Begins 7 Months After Fires
The Army Corps of Engineers is working to secure access to the properties in what’s expected to be a challenging phase of Maui’s recovery.
Maui County Wants To Take Private Land For Fire Debris Dump Site, But Owner Wants To Build The Landfill
Mayor Richard Bissen planned to meet with the property owners Monday to discuss ways to possibly avoid eminent domain proceedings.
Maui Mayor: ‘The State Of Our County Is Heartbroken’ But Recovery Will Happen
Bissen laid out his plans to address the housing crisis seven months after the Aug. 8 fires killed at least 101 people and destroyed much of Lahaina and parts of Kula.
FEMA Is Struggling To Move Maui Fire Survivors Into Homes Before Its Hotel Program Ends
The agency needs to rapidly pick up the pace, but it must figure out how to overcome hurdles with inspections, pets, background checks and location.
New Smart Sensors To Be Deployed On Maui To Provide Early Detection When Fires Break Out
A combination of thermal imaging, gas detection and artificial intelligence will help provide firefighters with real-time data to be able to respond faster.
Maui County May Use Eminent Domain To Acquire Land For Final Dump Site Of Lahaina Fire Debris
The property owner and local partners had been working on a private venture to develop the land into a new construction and demolition landfill facility.
