16 Budget and Finance Committee - Regular Meeting

Aloha, everybody, and thank you very much for attending tonight's Budget Finance Economic Development Committee. This our listening session because we have all organized bring really the council members to your community community so we could hear about the things you would like to share to tell us what's happening in your community, what you may need funding for, and what you think the county or how the county can help you better. We also like to hear of programs that are working and that if you could share those accomplishments and successes we appreciate that. My name is council member Yuki Lei Sugimura. I'm the chair of this committee, and I'm gonna turn the mic over to Tamara Poulton, who is your council member, and she can introduce the rest of the gang.

Aloha, mai kakou. To the north, we have council member Sheen Sinensi all the way from East Maui. And to his left, we have council member Keani Rollins Fernandez all the way from Molokai Nui Ahina. And to her immediate left, we have the new guy, Kawanoi Batangan from Kahului. And you guys all met budget chair, Ikile Sugimura.

She hails from upcountry, Jacaranda Country. To my immediate left, we have council member Tom Cook from South Maui. And to his immediate left, we have chair Lee of Wailuku. Sending their regrets tonight is council member Nohe Uuhajins of Paiya Makawao Hai ku and council member Gabe Johnson of Lanai. They said they will be watching as this is streamed live on Akaku.

And I also wanted to let you folks know that my staff put together a little cheat sheet of the mayor's proposed budget items for West Maui, and it's over there by staff. If you guys haven't had a chance to read the hundreds and hundreds of pages in the budget, my staff pulled together some of the items that were that allocated for West Maui, and you can take a look at that as well. And as she said, I'm I'm council member Tamara Poulton. My husband made food for all of you just in case somebody had to come from work, they're so hungry. We didn't want anyone to pass out.

So made with love from chef George. Thank

you. We always, appreciate the Paulton George Viera touch. I wanted to also thank staff. So any of you who would like to please sign up there, we'll be taking you in the order that you've signed up at that table. And I'd like to also recognize that we have our office of council services staff taking notes and minutes so that tomorrow or Monday at our next meeting, member Palton will be reporting on what you said and and what the community has shared with us tonight. We have

I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce our staff. We have tonight, from the West Maui residency area office, we have Christian Balagso, soccer coach. From Akaku, we have mister Vinny. Our, clerk for this evening, we have Lei Dineen in the green moon.

To her immediate right, we have Yvette Boutilier. To her immediate right, we have, office of counsel services head honcho supervisor David Rotts. We have our council ambassador in the red, Ryan Martins, and our legislative attorney, Carla Nakata. And we also have Cherry's grandson, Riley Ambrose, in the back. Member, Rollins Fernandez, EA, Mahealani Wright Wright Wilhelm. And Hello. Uncle Don

I saw uncle Don.

Stepped out, but member aide uncle Don is also here. Did I miss you?

Yeah. He was here. Oh. Oh, Axle. Axle.

Member Johnson was able to send his staff Axle, so he'll be diligently taking notes as well.

Thank you, member Palton. So we have one item on our agenda, which is b fed one, which is the mayor's proposed budget. So all of you can speak about anything, all the any of the departments or whatever's in the mayor's budget, and you'll have three minutes to speak. And if you're not done, you'll be given another thirty seconds to complete your testimony. After that, members may have questions for you, so stand by a little bit before you walk away.

They may have questions. And I want you to know this is very important for us, and this is the last residency area that we are doing this because we've gone through the whole save the best for last. And and we've gone through Molokai, Lanai everywhere. So this is the last residency area. We appreciate you a lot. And so at this time, I'd like to call the first testifier, please.

Thank you, chair. The first testifier is Alejandro Ayala. She'll be followed by Lynn Nishikawa.

Hello. Hi, everybody. My name is Alejandro Yada. I coming here to speak about the MEO paradransit service to I start to use in July last year. Yeah.

For my medical conditions, the regular bus routes is difficult because I use the was the cane, now is the the the walker. My my life changed using the paratransit bus because it's door by door service. Then I I don't need to walk to the bus stops. Don't need to wait for the schedule for the regular bus because I do my own schedule dependent to my needs. I start with medical appointments.

After that, I see too I have the possibility to use for groceries, also for work. Yeah. Then I I fill it out my day or my life now with, paratransit service to change completely my life. Yeah. Because made everything more easy for also for me, for an I see another persons to use the this service to the same way.

No? Because the same problems for me is also the same problems for another also. The wheelchairs obviously need to be sorry, for for the for for the special bus. But for me, in the beginning to I start with this service because Ruth Reborn start to help me me after the fire. I was affected for the fire. I was in the fish program with them. And they told me they're asking me what besides the help do they do, what more I need? I said transport because it's the more difficult living in the West Side. Coming to this the other side is the more difficult. The the transport people to have needs.

Then they put me in contact with I fill out the forms. I apply, obviously, with my doctor information. I I get in for for the for one year, obviously, I go to reapply, but it's completely changed. The service the only thing too I was talking with my supervisor was to I had two suggestions. The scheduling for for the for the truce sometimes is too long.

And for people to have needs more than two hours or three sitting in the bus, it's difficult. I do myself. I I see people to come with me too then. And all another thing is I I work here in the in the West in the kiosk hotel. Then I finish for 04:00.

I didn't wait sometimes. According to my schedule, my window time, half hour. But how the bus coming for Guayeluku, the traffic, the accidents, we had one road, but we had too many problems to gain time. Sometimes I wait one hour, one and a half, two hours.

Three minutes?

I am I am fine. That's my suggestion. Fin sorry. I am going to finish get a local route. I am very scheduled for for the other side. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Next testifier, please.

The next testifier is Lynn Nishikawa. She'll be followed by Rhonda Alexander Moncris.

Aloha. This is my first time testifying.

I've been around a long

time, but first time I'm testifying. So aloha chair and council members. My name is Lynn Nishikawa, president of the nonprofit Aloha Amplified, and I'm here to ask for funding support for our two thousand twenty six Lights for Lahaina. This free annual event was created in response to what many in this community continue to feel, a need for a safe welcoming space to return to and to move forward together. Last year, we we reached more than 850 people through our event and through community outreach leading up to it, where Keiki and families participated in lantern making and reflected on what Lahaina means to them.

In total, more than 2,000 lanterns were decorated at the event and at schools, community groups, churches, and those at Lahaina Comprehensive Health Center, all part of Lahaina's recovery. This year, we've expanded Lights for Lahaina into a two day experience on September 1 I mean, excuse me, 11/1112. The first evening, our Lahaina story brings people together through music, food, storytelling, and interactive activities at Maria Lanakila Catholic Church. The second evening is the light march, a respectful procession through Lahaina carrying light and reflection and unity. And you can learn more about our event on lightsforlahaina.org.

But more important than the details is why this event matters. Mental health professionals remind us that trauma isn't always visible, but it is deeply felt. Lahaina will rebuild physically one day, but the personal healing journey for many will take much longer. After the late March last year, one firefighter told us survivor told us, this is the first time I felt peace since the fire. Another said, walking together reminded us that we are not alone in this journey.

And another, it gave me hope that Lahaina's light will never fade. Those aren't just beautiful words. Those are evidence that community centered healing works. We humbly ask for the council's support for Lights for Lahaina. Mahalo for your consideration.

Nice seeing you, Lynn.

Good to see you.

Yeah. Nice to see you. How much are you asking for, or how much is in the budget?

We are asking for 40,000 for the two day event. Yeah.

And how much is in the budget now?

In the budget oh oh, how much we've raised? Or Oh, how much is

in the mayor's budget that we're reviewing?

Oh, we have we'll be applying on the OED grant. So yeah. And we'll be submitting our grant on Monday, correct, for that amount.

Mhmm. Thank you. Anyone have questions? K. Seeing none. Thank you then. You. I see. Next testifier, please.

The next testifier is Rhonda Alexander Moncrez. She'll be followed by Kelly Guiso.

Thank you. Aloha, chairing council members and Maui community. My name is Rhonda Alexander Mancres. I'm the executive director for Houola Ya Maui Kama Long Term Recovery Group, formed to walk alongside our families as they find their way home. So nearly three years later, recovery is still very real.

Today, we have 245 families that are in our care, and we have a 160 more that are on our wait list. And this has been narrowed down from a total of fourteen fourteen hundred applications that we received for disaster case management services. So the other thousand have been shifted over to either other organizations, or we've been able to close those cases overall. Many that we serve are carrying not just financial gaps, but deep uncertainty, grief, and fatigue. We've seen what's possible when support meets people where they are.

We brought families home with two homes completed and four more underway. And in those moments when keys are handed back, you don't just see a house. You see relief. You see healing. You see a future begin again for those families.

Our volunteers, hundreds of them, have shown up with open hands and full hearts creating over an $850,000 impact in the community in just six months. This is what happens when community wraps around community. But the need in front of us is still greater than our current capacity. We are working to scale so more families don't have to wait, so more homes can be rebuilt, and so recovery can move forward with dignity and momentum. The county's partnership is essential for us in this next phase.

Together, we can bring more families home, not just to structure, but to stability, to belonging, and to hope. So mahalo for standing with our community. We do have a current grant in with the Office of Recovery, and that's the area that we would wanna continue and gain support for.

Thank you for what you do. How much is your grant application for?

500,000. 500,000.

And this is brand new funding. You were in the budget last year also? Okay. Thank you. Any questions, members? Thank you.

Thank you. Member Paulson.

Are are you in the mayor's budget, or that's what you want? Did they put it 500,000 for you guys? I'm not sure. Okay. Alright. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next testifier, please.

The next testifier is Kelly Giso who will be followed by Brandy Kajidoy.

So,

aloha, everyone. My name is Kelly Jiso, and I serve as the volunteer coordinator for disaster long term recovery group. LTRG was created to do what recovery truly requires, walk alongside families for the long haul. Our community is still rebuilding emotionally, culturally, and physically. Volunteers are the backbone of that work.

Like she had mentioned earlier, there are angels. Hola LTRG has coordinated skilled and compassionate volunteers who show up day after day helping clear land, rebuild homes, distribute furniture and appliances, providing support, and most importantly, restoring hope. Mennonite disaster services team is one of our biggest volunteer organizations that help us the most right now. These are not, one day efforts. This is sustained relationship based recovery grounded in aloha for this place and our people.

Today, I wanna highlight the return on investment brings to Maui County. In the last nine months, Hola LTRG has mobilized over 427 volunteers, contributing over 27,000 volunteer hours And using a conservative national valuation for volunteer labor, they we represent about an an estimate of over $850,000 in economic impact bringing into our community. That is funding leverage not spent through strong coordination, training, housing logistics, safety, oversight, and community partnerships. But beyond the numbers are the lives that have changed. Hola LTRG has already helped house two families, a seven member multigenerational family, ensuring stability for their keiki parents and kupuna under one roof, a veteran whose family has lived on the same land for over thirty five years.

And in the coming weeks, weeks, we're excited to house our third family, a kupuna currently living on Oahu, who will finally be able to return home to Lahaina, to their community, their memories, and their sense of belonging. What makes these homes truly impactful is that they are set up for long term success. Through volunteers, donor dollars, and a coalition of nonprofit support, these homes are affordable for the long term, removing the risk of future displacement. Families are able to keep these homes in their ohana for generations while building stability, wealth, and cultural con continuity instead of passing on debt or uncertainty. This is not temporary relief.

This is what long term recovery looks like when it's community led and culturally rooted. On behalf of Hola LTRG, our volunteers, and the families who are rebuilding their lives, mahalo for recognizing the critical role long term recovery plays in Maui's future. Your continued support ensures that our people are not just housed, but truly home again. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none. Next testifier.

The next testifier is Brandy Kajidoy, who will be followed by Rick Nava.

Aloha. Brandy Kajidoy with Long Term Recovery Group. I'm the construction manager. I'm here today on behalf of the families who are still working every day to rebuild their lives after the fires. I wanna start by saying this work is personal for me. I love helping this community. Damn it. Because Lahaina raised my husband and did an amazing job. The man is today, the strength, the values, the way he shows for others, it comes from this community. I can honestly say I'm strong woman today.

Obviously, you can't see that right now, but but it's because of him and your community and what you've done for him. So being here is not just service. It's a responsibility for us to give back. But what we're seeing right now on the ground is very difficult and unacceptable. Many survivors have already started rebuilding, but they're getting stuck.

We're seeing serious issues with faulty contractors. Projects left incomplete, fun stretched, or misused, and families left homes that are still not livable. These families who did everything right, and they still fall short. Right now, there's not enough protection, support for the homeowners when things go wrong. We need support specifically with those situations so survivors are not left to carry the burden alone. At the same time, many families are facing large financial gaps. We're actively helping those who are close but not quite there. They don't need to start over. They just need to find the support to finish their home and come back. GAP funding is not extra help.

It's the difference between families staying displaced or finally coming home. And beyond that, the system itself is overwhelming. Permits, insurance, FEMA, contractors, issues, all that is a lot to manage. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this is why the case management is not an option that's essential. We're walking alongside families every day helping them navigate, advocate for them, making sure that they don't fall through the cracks.

We're also grateful to be working with the Mennonites disaster services, our angels, as Yuki said. They are an amazing group, and I feel truly blessed to partner with them. Together, we're able to bring real hands on solutions for families who are in need most. I also wanna be clear. We have not yet built out the resiliency hub that is still part of a long term vision, but the need right now is immediate and is happening through direct support to the case management, through helping families close those financial gaps. At the same time, they're thinking ahead. The work is not just about recovery. It's about making sure our community is better prepared for the next disaster. What we're building today is not temporary. It's a foundation for a stronger, more coordinated response for the future.

So today, I'm asking the county to act, to invest in GAP funding, case management, support for families impacted by the faulty contractors. Because right now, too many families are almost home, but not quite. And with your support, we can get them there. Mahalo for your time and consideration. We're not asking you to start something new. We're asking you to help finish what these families have already fought for so hard to build.

Mahalo. Thank you. One moment. Member Palton has a question.

Thank you. I have a couple questions. First question, it came up in South Maui about the, faulty contractors. Is there any way to get the word out on who not to use as a lot of the same people are being ripped off by the same people? And if we could just say don't give these people money.

I don't I would never want that to come from Ho'ola, and I wouldn't want it to come from my personal job either. But I understand you and I hear you. But that's not the direction that we're going. We're just making sure that we can support them, and we have a whole path and the things that they have to do in order for us to come in and help them. But I I get what you're saying. I don't know if that's our responsibility to blast them, but I I hear you.

The other item, the 500,000 is not in the mayor's proposed budget. What what what is the 500,000 entail? I'm gonna have Rhonda answer that one. Oh, okay. Yeah.

Can she answer that for me then?

Yeah. She's my resource. She's my resource. I don't Yeah. So 500,000 right now is meant for faulty contractors, for disaster case management, volunteer services, and rebuild services. But the gaps that we have range between 200 to 500,000 per household. So for one year, maybe we could do one house or with faulty contractors. We just completed two. One was $60,000. The other one was $80,000. So if we find those types of cases, then we could do multiple faulty contractor homes. But for some of the larger ones, the gaps are 300 to 500,000.

Okay. I think member Cook has a question for miss Cottrell.

Thank you. When faulty contractor, what type of, like, 60 to 80,000? Where do they leave it and you pick it up, and what's the scope of work to kinda get it forward?

And it's varied. Yeah. I mean, we have one where it needs to be completely demoed because it was built two feet over the setback, and then they just kinda left. You know, that's that's an extreme case, so that's rebuilding the entire house. But then there's the extra cost of the demo for them too. Right? And then the smaller cases are just the electric wasn't done right. Today, I had to re have them rewire the entire house. It was never done right from the beginning. But, I mean, the county, the the building permit office, they have had a stop work order on some of them. Not all of them, but some of them, and it was things like that.

So That was my thanks. Sorry. Yeah. That was my next question was the interaction participation of the building inspectors, plumbing, electrical, frame So wall to foundation.

So when the family goes through the whole process that we've set up, you know, with our process, we've worked with the prosecutor's office. So they need to do a police report for an informational. They need to fill out the RECO form, but they also need to do a termination letter. Once they've done the termination letter, that kinda gives me the the right to go on the property and have a clean slate with them, and I do a walk through with them.

Thank you so much for clarity because what the the previous question was about warning people about faulty contractors. And I understand your think it's like, don't wanna get in the middle. But DCCA, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Contractors License Association Contractor License Board

Mhmm.

Who has a $10,000 refund. Like, the if you if you file a claim, $10,000 is the max, which is kinda ridiculous. But

And it takes a while for them to get that, though.

Oh,

yeah. It takes, like, a year to two years. Right? So that's not gonna yeah.

So somehow, as a community, let's identify these players and mitigate their continued participation in it. So if you have any ideas, let us know.

But I Well, all the

ones that have filled out the Rico form, it's there. You you can find who we've had fill out the Rico form. So and they have to report who that contractor was. So information is there for you to access.

So that would be on the DCCA? Yeah. Contractor report thing. Okay. I'll look it up. Thank you.

And and for anyone that came in late, there still is food in the corner if you're if you're hungry. Okay.

Thank you very much. Alright. Next testifier, please.

The next testifier is Rick Nava who will be followed by Joseph Pluta.

Good evening, budget chair, Sugimura, council members. If I make, might run a little bit longer because I'm representing eight other directors of the West Mowi taxpayers. If you could just bear with me for a moment, I'd appreciate it. Again, my name is Rick Nava. I serve as the executive director of the West Maui Taxpayers Association.

We're dealing with another budget year again and it's another increase, an increase of $60,000,000, which is 3.8 from the previous fiscal year. When are we going to have a budget that actually show a decrease because we're basically getting taxed out of here. Residents of Maui County are already facing significant financial challenges living in one of the most expensive state in the nation. Any additional cost on service fees, increased tax rate will place further pressure on our families. Many of us are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Many have no choice but to leave the families and friends behind and move out of the island. About last week, actually, gas was over $5 per gallon. And and we don't know when this is going to decrease. There is also a bill that's coming down from the state, Bill twenty six ninety four, that if approved, Young Brothers will increase their shipping fee by another 5% for the next two years and then on the third year, they can pick up whatever price that is. So, for those of you who are listening here, you might want to reach out to representative Miyake about this particular percent increase.

You know we cannot continue to absorb the ongoing increases on our annual budget. West Maui Taxpayer Association believes that the proposed budget increase will add more financial burden on all of us. Our families are getting priced out of Maui. On another note, recently, my family and other residents of Kilauea and Mauka 3 were unable to leave our homes for forty eight hours due to several sinkholes from the storms. The situation reflects ongoing infrastructure that has not been addressed for decades.

Actually, council member Paul and I have a discussion about this three years ago. Maintaining roads, drainage and flood control systems are not optional projects. They are fundamental obligations. Preventive maintenance is far more cost effective than emergency repairs and far less disruptive to our safety and our lives. The mayor's proposed budget will also establish new hazards mitigation section within Myanmar focused on wildfire reduction, infrastructure, protection, and more.

Can this mitigation be supported through the $214,000,000 already set aside for mitigation to the CDBGR funding. In a dish in addition, we respectfully request funding for the following priority needs on West Maui. Traffic safety improvement along Keawe Street to reduce speeding and protect motorists and pedestrians. Pedestrian crosswalks when flashing red lights, warning lights connecting Lahaina Gateway to near housing and shop across Kiavy Street. Install flashing pedestrian warning lights on Kiavy Street crosswalk to power to the highway to improve motorists and pedestrian safety.

At Kilauea Almaca Park, neighborhood children will benefit from the addition of safe modern playground equipment and dedicated basketball courts to support recreation, activities, and community engagement. And finally, we need expanded bus shelters and to support the public transit. These are essential community needs that directly impact the lives of West Maui residents. Twenty five million has allocated for public service within the CDBG Doctor program, which we believe is intended to support these improvements for our community. Accordingly, this item should not be included in the proposed county budget.

Thirty seconds. Okay. How we strongly believe that any cost saving measure must be approached with great care. WMTA believe that health, safety, and welfare of our residents are not just priorities. They are essential. This must never be compromised in the pursuit of budget reductions. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, mister Nava. Anybody have questions for him? I wonder if you could give us a copy of what you're Sure. Reading testimony.

Thank you

very much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Next testifier looks like is Joe Pluta.

The next testifier is Joseph Pluta who will be followed by Theo Morrison.

Hello, everybody. Yeah. I'm just getting healed up from my surgery so I can walk again, learning how. Thank you so much council members for coming here today. I know it's not something you look forward to coming over the polyneur, And that's one of our problems is that so many people have that inconvenience. We feel if all of you lived over here in West Maui, we wouldn't have the problems we're talking to you about now today. Anyway, thank you so much for coming. I wanna reiterate everything that Rick Nava just said. So proud of him, what he's doing for us, the West Maui taxpayers. We're so excited.

We just got the Maui County Council I'm assuming the Maui Planning Commission to approve our fire station rights of use in the land agreement. You know, our our organization and what we have done, personally, I have forty seven years I've been working as a volunteer for West Maui. I love this. I love West Maui. I love the people.

I love everything about it. It's a pleasure to do it, and we've made progress. But, boy, we got a long way to go. You know, when there's crisis issues, which we've had in West Maui for homelessness and ever, it seems like forever. And when we talk about permitting, we talk about how long and how hard it is.

I mean, I'm just trying to get a fire station done. You think I could sail right through? I've had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and go to all kinds of consultants and things to satisfy the conditions and ordinances that are required by law to get done to in order to do this. Well, somewhere, I don't know, maybe needs to be a reprioritization about health and safety things. Is there any exemptions for health and safety things where lives are at stake.

I mean, when urgent things are needed, do they have to necessarily follow every ordinance? Or is there can there can there be an exemption? You make the laws. Right? So you have to look at that. I think some of our laws and ordinances need to be looked at and reexamined for is it real really pertinent today? Is it applicable to what today's situations are? I know it's a philosophical question, but you're all intelligent people that can handle that. And there's no question in my mind, you can handle it if you want to. So health and safety has been our thing and always will be.

We're not satisfied with the way we're being treated in Lahaina. We're not happy with the way that affordable housing is coming on. We don't think it's fast enough or good enough. We don't think our permits are being processed fast enough. And I think if you have at least problems with where they say, well, there's no personnel. We got all these vacancies. We gotta outsource. We gotta outsource these things, get it done, solve the problems, solve the crises, please. Thank you.

Thank thank you very much, and congratulations on your fire station.

Thank you.

Any questions? Miss member Cook.

Thank you for so much. It's good to see

you walking around. Thanks, Tom.

For LEAF, which is doing the permits, I just you might not agree with this, but Lion has a reputation of being spoiled because your building permits are expedited and going really fast. And the building permits that are still going through the regular system is taking months and months. So from your experience, the permitting for the residential for the houses and the rebuild are taking a long time? Too long. What is too long?

Too long is that's a good question. I'm sorry. I can't immediately give you exact response to that question. But, you know, this it's so complicated and difficult. Somebody needs to sit down with people and take them through, literally, person to person, not tell them, oh, go to this website. Yeah. You know, that's not the answer. The answer is, here's what you do. Take them through. Spend the time with each individual. Answer their questions. Oh my god.

That would be incredible. I thought that there were some architects working with the community for, like, design registered homes and that. I'm just burning. I'll look into it. My understanding was that there was people in the community, design professionals who are working with the people in at Lahaina and that the county has expedited building permit process. So I'll Well, that's you

know, the name all that may be true, but is it effective? Yeah. So is it working? You know, don't think so. We can

get together and talk story. I think they're tired of me already.

Sure. Surely.

Thank you.

Hi, Joel. What's the estimated cost of a brand new fire station?

Oh, that's a good question. Yeah. You see, $3,000,000 for me, and I was selling I said, wow. That you know, they've been waiting for twenty some years for a fire station, and they got 20 to $30,000,000 involved in that. I can give them one for $4,000,000. It's good or better than the one they have planned. So why not? I mean, the union's got such a grip on things and promises the contractors. I don't know. But I I you know, as far as the public interest is concerned, today is a different day.

There's new technologies today. There's AI. There's always different things. People are in modular construction. These things gotta be incorporated and allowed in our laws and ordinances. Ordinances. They They can't can't be restrictive just because they're new and different.

Who are you working with?

We're working with E and B, Extreme Modular Buildings out of Canada. They all they do is make fire stations in a warehouse just like Ford Motor Company, General Motors churned out all those cars and every manufacturer in a factory setting where they can enjoy economies of scale where they can bring down the price to 20%. Joe, are you

working with the fire chief?

Yeah. I'm very closely.

Okay. We'll check with him.

Yeah.

Okay? Thank you.

Thank you, mister Pluta. Any more questions? Seemed on. Thank you. Next testifier.

The next testifier is Theo Morrison who will be followed by Mitch Kings Kingsley.

Aloha. Thank you for coming to West Maui. I actually came to West Maui too because I live over there, sense of fire, but I'm coming back. So and our office is also coming back as soon as we get the permits. Temporary office, but anyway.

So we're the 9,000,000 in the office of recovery budget for the rebuild of the Lahaina Courthouse and the old prison. We've been managing these two historic sites, county county sites for decades at our own expense. We brought in 750,000 for the old Lahaina Courthouse in 2011, kind of re redid the whole inside, built the Lahaina Heritage Museum, redid all the windows and all the doors, and we've refinished the floor. We've done a lot of well, you know, it's all gone. But, anyway, we did a lot for that building.

It was a really, really beautiful building, and we did it at our own expense or going out and getting outside grants for that. So what we've done right now, we actually have eight bill eight buildings that we're we are restoring. We've got five we own, three belong to the county. We just got a $4,000,000 grant from the National Park Service for the Siemens Hospital. So that was really great.

It covers everything. Not you don't even need a match on that one. So we we raised the 300,000 for a master plan for all our buildings, and we've hired a project manager. So we're just getting going in in the the permitting and the design phase, and then we'll be ready to start construction when we get through all that. So, yeah, thank you very much for your support, and we really look forward to getting our historic sites back. Thank

you very much, Theo. You are amazing, your years of work. Any questions? Seeing none. Thank you.

K. Sure.

Next Next

testifier is Mitch Kingsley, who will be followed by Alexandria Domingo.

Aloha. My name is Mitch Kingsley. I'm the current project director for Mennonite Disaster Service for the project here in Lahaina. Mennonite Disaster Service is an organization that's brought several 100 volunteers. It works with long term recovery.

And so what I would like to do is just to share a little bit how the the the budgeting process affects us at the at the kind of the tail end of the whole process. Mennonite disaster service, I I I might mention that I happen to serve on the on the national board of Mennonite disaster service as well, but but when I'm here, I'm I'm just a a project director. So building houses, that's what that's what we're doing. So Mennonite disaster service seeks to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Our volunteers are motivated by by helping people who are without other resources, oftentimes disabled or uninsured or something has has happened to make it impossible for them to to rebuild and recover.

And that's those are the people that our our volunteers seek to serve. So when and and well, overall, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna quote some of the statistics I have for Mennonite disaster service. We work across the country. So there and and disasters are happening at a at an increasing rate overall. So we find ourselves with many, many volunteers, but our challenge is to find the right projects where all of the pieces come together.

For Mennonite disaster service, those pieces are represented in what we call four pillars, and three of those pillars relate very directly to funding. So the pillars are accommodations for volunteers. That's that's one that's that is a place for volunteers to live when they're there. Volunteers themselves, we need the volunteers. We need meaningful work, and we need funding for materials.

Mennonite Disaster Service provides the volunteers. They provide the tools that that volunteers work with and all of the support for the volunteers to live in a in a given situation. But accommodations are something that the long term recovery group has to has to help us with. And the funding for the materials themselves, the building materials, that also comes from from local long term recovery groups. And finally, this is kind of a hidden one, but when I say meaningful work, meaningful work means for our volunteers serving these people that it it it is something that we cannot find on our own because we're we come from many, many other places.

And so this element of case working and and finding out what it is that we should be doing is a very important part of Doing this. What helps us be effective as as an organization. So that is why this funding affects long term recovery, affects Mennonite disaster service at the end of that. We're we're very happy to be here. We're blessed. We hope that our our service can be of help here. So mahalo.

Thank you very much. Member Coke then. Member Coke.

Thank you, sir. Yeah. What kind of to paint a picture, what type of trades do you bring to the table and, like, soup beginning soup to nuts, foundations, framing, roofs. And and that's where it depends upon what the need is so you can bring people those people in. Could you kinda explain the mechanics of how your operation work?

Sure. Sure.

We

we bring a whole variety of volunteers. So our our volunteers are are you know, they're in the whole range of skill levels. Some very little skills and some with high degree of skills. We almost always rely on local contractors for the the technical services, electrical, the AC, and and plumbing. So those are are usually contracted out.

Now we we personally work under the supervision of a, Fajidoe construction. And so that is in in this situation. And so, basically, what happens there is they watch over our work to make sure that we are going to pass every inspection. So we, you know, we we say, is this the way we do it here in Lahaina? I mean, we might have a whole variety of ideas how we

do it somewhere else, but we yeah. So do you work with Habitat for Humanity? Is it that type of volunteer?

Well, very similar. Yes. Habitat has an overall program that is not particularly tied to disaster. So Mennonite disaster service is tends to be tied to disaster. We expect, for instance, to be here for we've been here a year and a half, two years, but we expect to be here another year, perhaps longer. But, yes, we today, I drove the restore truck on on a little project that we helped. So ReStore on the other side offered us help. Thank you.

If you could leave information with staff as far as contact information. And you folks are already working together? Oh, because I was gonna refer you to them.

Oh, yeah. No. No. No. No. We're yeah. Yep. Yep.

Thank you, mister Kingsley. I I had a question. Sorry about that. I just wanted to clarify. Are you asking for more than the 500,000 that they're asking for? Because I don't think they, included material funding in their 500,000 request.

So we are we are not, I I think it feels a little bit like beyond our, our area of expertise. So I don't I don't feel like we as Mennonite disaster service wanna stick our nose in. But on the other hand, I I wanted to make it very clear that that funding, you know, as it comes down, it has an effect on whether those four pillars are in place for us. And when when those four pillars exist, we stay. So, I mean, we we can do our work. So that's that's what I'm saying.

About how much materials what is the cost of the materials that you may need in one year?

Okay. That's Can he have a resource? Yes. Okay.

It's about a resource. The resource. Yep.

So I think that when we've trucked down our numbers, for any one house, materials are about $200 a square foot. And so that's kind of what we put into our budgets whenever we're putting together some sort of a a bid summary whenever we put together the the whole case before we bring it to them. And I so my job as a construction manager with Hola, I make sure all the materials are there, and we make sure the funding is there somehow or another. And the materials have to be at the site for them to work. We have foundations foundations done before they come in, and that's it.

They do everything else. We just have the electrician and plumbers come in and do the rest. Is that helpful? Did that help? So I know Rhonda's asking for 500,000, but I think, yes, we do need way, way more. Yes. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next testifier.

The next testifier is Alexandria Domingo who will be followed by Michelle Lincoln.

Oh, somebody help roll their mic.

I got it. I got it. There. Yeah. Thank you. Sorry. Aloha. There you go. Aloha, everyone. Good evening.

Unfortunately, our parent couldn't make it tonight, so I'm gonna be reading her letter on her behalf. It's a parent here in Lahaina, and her name is Meilin. And she just wanted to, express her sincerest appreciation to the county of Maui for funding MUO Head Start. It has been a huge help to families like ours to be able to bring our keiki to preschool, especially for those who cannot afford it. My child, Zach Speed, has been attending Emio Head Start for two years now, and our lives have become so much easier since the kids not only come to a place that we can trust our kids in and also know that we can work and learn so much.

It's a big help in shaping our children's characters and minds before they enter elementary school. I'm humbly requesting that the County Of Maui keep funding this organization in hope of continuing full day, full year services for our enrolled Head Start families. And then another note, we've seen such huge progress for this child in two years because he used to cry all the time. And so just knowing that he was able to be comforted by his staff by our staff and have the families, you know, build a relationship. Because it's really hard when you're trying to leave your child and your child's screaming, and and that's an awful feeling, right, and to be leaving them there.

But they built two years worth of relationships altogether with the family, and now the family is feeling that this is something they would like to see for other families.

Very, very beautiful. Any questions? Thank you.

Can I add something? I have I have a little bit more time. Right? I just wanted to add something on a personal note for Head Start. In the going on twenty two years that I have been here, I have personally seen the success of some families.

Last year, I lost both my parents, and I experienced something so beautiful. It was three different past Head Start families that supported me and my family in the hospital as my parents are passing, and I could not believe, the comfort that they bought me and and my whole family and the fact that they took time to visit both my parents and keep telling the stories of how Head Start helped them so that they wouldn't have even been where they're at now if it wasn't for Head Start. So I was just so touched by that, but I I just wanted to share because that that shows you success of Head Start. They're out in our community doing the good work. So mahalo.

Thank you.

Next testifier, please. The next testifier is Michelle Lincoln who will be followed by BJ Yadall.

Thank you so much for being here tonight. And I wanna thank this county council. Many of you were on the county council several years ago when the West Maui Community Plan was passed, and you left some very strange wording in there so that Stanford Carr and the Maui Planning Commission would have to address a mediation problem with the park. I just wanna thank you for doing that because even though it seemed really weird at the time, it's what was necessary for justice to be served. In 2014, a lawsuit began.

It got resolved in 2021 with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling on all counts in our favor, but the project of Kahoma Village had been built in the meantime. So we're saying, okay. Don't tear anything down, but give us the some park space in that area. And, and so the county council left the original wording, for that. Well, 2021 is when the the lawsuit came through. 2022 is when the community plan was left with the original wording, and still nothing happened. Well, after the fire, we lost everything in the fire. We lost our business assets. We lost our home. But one of the first things I did after the fire and got cell phone service and Internet was contact our attorney and go, hey.

Cajoma Village lost some houses in there. We need to do our mediation so they can rebuild. Because right now, it will be illegal for them. They need an SMA, and they won't be able to get that because they're not in compliance with the community plan. So we were the ones that pushed the effort to, hey.

Let's get this thing through so I know what how I felt about wanting to rebuild and I knew they would feel the same way. So in August 2025, they finally we finally came with mediation and we were given four parcels in the Mala area and next to Kahoma Village. Just little little tiny pocket little areas that were already owned by the county and that they're going to make the best effort to create a park and a memorial to David Malo of the Alamee Fish Pond, the battle between Kamehameha the great and the high chief of Maui. A lot of history happened down there, and there was a promise of signage and some historical things and playgrounds and picnic tables, nothing elaborate. But I noticed in the details here, there's no mention in the parks department, they have mentioned some other projects in in Lahaina restoration, which is great.

I'm all for that. But I just ask that those parcels that were part of the mediation be included in the budget just by word. We don't even need that much money, but just to know that you guys acknowledge it and tell the parks department this is an important project because I feel like the county, once they start the ball rolling, that there will be rotaries and other you know, people in the community that wanna buy a picnic, you know, table for the county and fund it. So I think we can get funding elsewhere. I'm not asking for a lot of money, but I'm asking for recognition and just enough to kind of, like, whatever it takes to start that and maybe with some cash concessions like Kahoma Village being built without the SMA that maybe some of those concessions can also be applied to this.

In my remaining thirty seconds, I just wanna bring up the fact that we are rebuilding in Lahaina, but it's terrifying to me to see all the grass growing on Bishop Estate, Kamehameha School land. And right now, it's lush and green. And in a few months, it's gonna be a brown.

And how are we

supposed to stop a fire like that again? So since 2014, I've been advocating for the reclaimed water to be put in ditches, brought over there for irrigation because community schools told me back in 2012 when I started asking them about it if they would please do ag and they said they need a reliable source of ag water. So I'm asking that I know there's a budget to get it to Waihi Kooli right now, but could you increase the budget to get it to Bishop Estate so they can irrigate and keep our community safe? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any questions? Member Repoulton. Member Repoulton has a question.

I'm member Rollins Fernandez. Mahalo. Take that as a compliment. Mahalo, miss Lincoln, for your testimony. I and maybe member Poulton has the answer to this. I can, you know, talk story with it later. But do you know the TMK or the addresses of the three park parks that you mentioned?

There's there's four parcels altogether. Four. And, yes, I can send to Tamara and a and a link with the the four parcels that were mentioned in the mediation and the mediation agreement with the county said that they were willing to do for those parcels. So not that I'm asking, like I said, to fund the whole thing. There are so many worthy causes. But just to get the ball rolling so they know that you guys are taking it to the next level and making sure that justice is served and that the community will all benefit from having,

you know, a nice nice park down there. Perhaps at minimum, we can at least afford signs

if there's if there's no signs there to get the ball rolling. Yeah.

And they don't clean it up and plant some plants. Yes. There's some things we can do that are like, can get it going. But I don't like I said, it it's when I hear about all these other things that it's I think the money will come from places, but if you guys could just show that you care, just like these are listed, like, specific projects just to put it, hey. We wanna put some money towards this to start whatever the parks department needs to start the predevelopment plans or whatever. And then once they let us know what the budget is, I will start advocating and getting, you know, public people to private people to help fund it. So don't take away from all these other important things, but please mention it and give us whatever you think parks would need just to to start the preliminary park planning.

Yeah. Probably a code amendment in chapter entitled 12. I just did that, and I'm happy to watch for your email and work with you on that. Alright. Thank you. Mahalo.

Okay. Now you can be member of Rollins Fernandez.

What an honor. I just wanted to clarify a couple things. I tell these guys every day that we want the r one to go south and not north, so just clarifying. And the other thing I wanted to clarify or ask that if you knew that this council today passed the parking bill. So that's one less. Yay. Thank you. Okay.

No more questions. Thank you. Next testifier.

The next testifier is BJ Yadao who'll be followed by Lionel Pasquale.

Hello? Aloha, everyone. My name is BJ Yadao. I just wanted to say thank you to for providing me a home with peace and stability. After we lost everything from the Lahaina wildfire, we thought there was no hope.

But with the help of and their local partners and volunteers, such as Lahaina Community Land Trust, Hawaii Community Lending, and Mennonite Disaster Service, they were able to organize and made the rebuilding process as smooth and efficient as possible. Because of their time and effort, my family finally has a sense of peace and comfort. To families who are still struggling, still uncertain, still rebuilding, there is hope. Today, I stand here with as living proof of what they can do. Direct, organized support so families facing uncertainty are not alone and can return home.

So please continue your support for Yours your support can restore hope, hope for families to return home, hope that Lahaina can rebuild, hope that with any challenges our community may face, and their many local partners and volunteers will be there.

Mahalo. Beautiful.

Any questions? Congratulations.

Thank you.

Great. Next testifier. The

next testifier is Lionel Pasquale who'll be followed by uncle Deno.

I am talking about two items. On the first one, I ask for your support for con conic connections. It's a group for us in Lahaina that helps men to take life and deal with it, especially with all the stuff we're losing the house. It's a good place for us just to stop and release our minds and all the questions and sympathy with each other. And then this one, I'm talking for myself.

Like, is we're we're missing missing in in the the loop loop with the loss because we had lost our house, and then we used our money, but it extended over. Now we're out, and all the programs are closed. So today, we cut a check for 9,400 for rent. Our mortgage is 3,000. And I don't know. And we don't we make a little bit too much for qualified for MEO. We went. So if there's solution for us, there's a lot of us in this missing loop. So that's it. I'm not a talker, unfortunately.

Thank you. Any questions?

Yeah. You guys better have questions. I'm looking for solutions, man. Come on. You guys I'm in here talking to you guys. You guys gotta answer something. Yeah. Okay. So can you explain again your

like, I it it had ended. The services had ended, and now you're having to pay

your own.

Hotel Papa Kev and, the other hotels for maybe nine months. So when we had the to use our loss of use because we wanted to stay in Lahaina. Yeah. We wanted to stay in Lahaina, and my son is a senior. So we didn't wanna move to the other side. So by the time we left the the hotel system, we had loss of use of money, which just ended in maybe the New Year. And then after that, we qualified. I'm not sure what program. We had four months free. And then right now, we went to MEO, but it's more of a low income four months.

And then there's nothing for us, and we're gonna be homeless because I we we don't even make that much without food and rent. I mean, without food and for the car payments and credit cards. Yeah. I already thinking about taking a loan for rent, which is stupid. So so you don't qualify for

the MEAL rental assistance program?

Just left. Okay. And there's nothing really out there. But everybody in the same situation like me, they get houses up there, free rent, and Oh, up above Yeah. They're same. Above here. And we just lost in the loop because when our money ran out for the loss of use, then everything closed already. Got it. Then we keep trying up there, but they always give us information that don't work. Okay. So you're looking for more

at least more rental assistance Definitely. For for your income bracket? Bracket.

Yeah. Because up there, they make more than us, some of them, and they're up there getting free rent. And they're paying their mortgage too, but I just can't handle two mortgages and then rent. The mortgages are cheaper than the rent. I mean, the rent is yeah. The mortgage cost more than the Okay. We can reach out. Thanks.

Thank you, miss Pasquale. Yeah.

Thank you. No. Never.

You you are employed. Right? No. Oh, not employed.

Shoot. I'm legally disabled. I had 17 surgeries, so I'm not screws in the back.

Then what what AMI bracket is the programs that you need?

We're looking for somebody to some kind of

rental assistance speak in the mic. Looking

for some some rental assistance that we qualify for. Because it's everything is mostly for low income.

Yeah. I And it'll

I It's the same it's the same fire. That's the part that makes me mad. It's the same fire,

but all different qualifications on what situation, which is crazy. So not low what what is the bracket that the program is missing in?

Well, we made 14,000 more than enough more than the MEO one, so we didn't qualify a year.

Annual, thousand over. Yeah. We qualified before

and they had one, I guess, was a grant, and this is now not a grant. It's, like, through welfare or something like that.

Yeah. I know we put, 12,000,000 to Maui United Way for, and they haven't yet distributed it for, rental assistance program. Does the ALICE, your program? Do you know how they can apply for that?

What I we're gonna do is take down your name and information. If you could give it to Lei and

Up there.

And then yeah. And then if we can talk to you further.

Yeah. I will. Please. Thank you. Because Yes.

Thank you.

Okay. One question. Were you part of the FEMA program? No. And the FEMA program is extending one more year.

We're not in a FEMA program. I We just ended our loss of use, so we wasn't in nothing. 20 thing it was was with Red Cross when we was at the hotels. But as of now, we're nothing. We never was to FEMA.

I've got

a letter letter that says we're never

with FEMA. Okay.

So the people here today working with Hawaii Community Lending and all these other, probably, CNHA and all the other consultants that are helping in the community. Is there any way you can help guide him?

Do you have a case manager?

Yes. I do. But my wife is taking care of mostly, but she's working tonight.

So Okay. But

the two of you can talk on the side Okay. And help him. Yeah? And then we can do we can also follow-up on on your Okay. Issue, but you have to let one of us know.

I'll wait.

No. Wait. No. You have to call us.

Oh, give me your number. I'll call you. Guarantee. I'll calling everybody.

We'll give you our number.

I'll call you.

Okay. Very good. Thank you.

Good. Thanks. Thank

you. Next testifier.

The next testifier is uncle Dino, who'll be followed by Wilma Kahayelii. Uncle Dino? Is

there uncle Dino here? Maybe we can come back to him. Okay.

The next testifier is Wilmaud Kahayali'i.

Aloha. So I was looking over this, and what I have to share with you is is not even addressed on this agenda. So I I hope that maybe what I have to Mahele might get some support or traction down the road. I stand before you today as the president of Aloha Amplified. We were the nonprofit organization that hosted the Lights for Lahaini event last year.

And I wanted to give you guys some context about how that event really came to fruition because about the early part of last year, one of Lynn's daughters came with me and we went up to where our house was destroyed by the fire. And she did something that really was the precursor. This is why Lights for Lahaina happened. She said, uncle, why don't we just go up to your house where your house was? So we went up. The sun went down already. It was getting dark. And she said, uncle, where's your living room? And so I I I said, oh, it was over here. She said, why don't you go sit in your living room?

So I sat on the gravel, and then she said, uncle life was like before So I closed my eyes. I started talking story. And by the time I was done, I opened up my eyes. She had taken these lamps that she had, and she had traced the outline of the house. So I found myself surrounded by light.

That really hit me so hard that I decided I'd to do the same thing for Lahaina. Because Lahaina has been so dark and dreary for the last two and a half, three years, and I know what the power of light can do for a lot of us still going through the trauma, still trying to navigate this this this recovery. And so when I teamed up with Lynn and her Ohana, they helped me find the hope and the energy to do this for Lahaina Town. After that event, there were so many people in West Maui, not even Lahaina people, people from Kapalua, Kahana. They were like, are we gonna do this every year?

Would love to for as long as it takes. Because you heard her share testimony earlier. There are people who actually, because of the event, were coming out of the dark. And they felt by virtue of that event, they had hope to keep trying. It's not easy. It's not easy. You heard you heard brother talk. It's hard. Some of us going through some really

kind stuff.

Oh, we love this place so much. We're doing everything we can. See, that's what I get for being in Puerto Guee, the the alarm going off already. Can I ask you guys, the next time you put together a budget, can we have something for the the mental health and wellness component for a community? Because that's not here. And so I feel like I'm speaking out of turn.

Thank you. One moment. Member Paulson has a question.

Oh, no. You can talk to me later.

Oh, I just wanted to clarify that these, were pulled out of the mayor's budget as West Maui specific funding, So you don't have to read the hundreds and hundreds of pages. The mental health component isn't specific only to West Maui, and it's in the big budget book, which is, you know, like, thousand something page. But these are my staff just pull pulled out highlights, like a one pager that is specific to West Maui. Do you know what that piece is

that that address that? What kind of budget has been allocated for that piece?

There's various ones, like, I think mental health Kokua and other ones, and it's not only for West Maui. And then I think the state is also funding the Maui West at the Lahaina Comprehensive Health Center, which has, you know, free sessions with doctor Knightsbridge and things like that. Yeah. Yeah. But this is not what we put in the budget.

This is, like, a brief synopsis of the mayor's budget. You don't have to read thousand something pages and look at what was allocated specifically for West Maui. If you wanna read the whole budget, you can go to mauicounty.us backslash agendas and

the beef You know, Tamara, let's do this. Let's do this because I love the suggestion. You have my number.

Yeah. But I'm not gonna get to you because I'm this lady has me on all kind of deadlines. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm reading Okay. Fair. Fair. Every night this week. But I'm just trying

to save you some some time because what you're suggesting to me is just another gate. Yeah. Right. One more thing I gotta go do. One more thing we gotta go do. One more thing we gotta go look for. One more link we gotta

click 33 in the program budget, there's over $10,000,000 for in mental health.

Boom. Thank

you. Maybe you won a favor tonight. Nice. Nice. Next testifier.

Chair, did you wanna go back to uncle Dino?

Yes. Oh,

he's not

here. Oh,

okay. The next testifier is Kanani Higbee, who will be followed by Carolyn Awailoa.

Aloha. I'm Kanani Higbee. I'm a Lahaina fire survivor, and I say forget mental health. Sorry, but you can pay endless money to mental health and still not address the issue, which is houselessness. We are homeless. We are homeless. We are homeless. You know, that's the same thing I would tell a mental health person, like a freaking crisis counselor. We're homeless. We need housing.

We don't need million 10,000,000 of mental health. What we need is our issues addressed, which is housing. So I earned my bachelor's degree in social science, political science while raising my two kids by myself. You know, chipping away my degree for years and years and years so that I could pass bills through the Hawaii state legislature, which I feel the county should work with this state because we have a 155 homes trying to go through Lahaina Leiolii Hawaiian homes for us Lahaina fire survivors, and we need you guys to help the state. We already have Maui commissioner Archie Culpa, former lifeguard for the county right there.

You know? We know where he lives, and that there's our in for us to try to get Leali'i built. And I'll tell you how that's going. Basically, you know, we went to do lots of election. We got paperless. Oh, it's a paper. It's not a house. It's a paper. And it's like we passed bills to the state legislature. They get killed. We need your support. You guys go to the first day of the legislature. Legislature. You guys work there. So why can't you guys help us, you know, work with the state?

We didn't get house bill two zero four nine passed through. That's a convenience, you know, restructuring to get Hawaiian home funding, but we still have house we still have senate bill three zero two eight. That also is a conveyance tax. It's not too specific on how much they're gonna put Hawaiian home infrastructure, but it does help. You know, we need this funding in order to get our projects developed so we can get housing here in Lahaina.

You know? So another thing too is, as you know, my brother's still missing. Kanalu Higbee, father of three, you know, has been and the Maui police haven't done much about them. They basically told me the cold case unit, the two detectives, they said if we look for him, we're gonna have to look for over a 100 other missing people. It's like, that's your job. You're the cold case unit. You know? Every time you find somebody who's missing, that helps us. We don't need to go to a freaking counselor. We have our answers to what happened to our family.

We have closure. You know? Forget this mental health crap, and let's address the real issues we have. You know? So, you know, it'd be good if my brother's children can't go through their whole lives not knowing where their father is. And he also they lost out on Hawaiian Home because he's a Hawaiian Home waitlist too, and they really need a house. So it's just, you know, really pay attention to what is going on here. No. We don't need mental health. Okay? They know what our problems are. What we need is we need housing, and we need things like missing people found. You know? The whole town was able to find their loved ones. What about people before the fire?

You know? We're still waiting. Any questions? Thank you.

Mhmm. What bill number did you say?

Okay. There's two bill numbers. House bill 2049.

That's a conveyance tax bill. Wait. Wait. 2059. 49. 205

Yeah. 9. That was killed by Mililani state senator Donovan Dela Cruz in ways of means, which is really sad because it went through both the house and senate, and it was going it was nearly done. And then we still have a live Senate Bill three zero two eight barely, and that's gone through the whole process. But we really need this funding so that Hawaiian Home Infrastructure can get the money that they need so we can get our homes. Because, you know, we've been waiting for a long time, and my poor mom, she freaking busted her a colleague working at Lahaina. So it's her whole life. She forty years on the wait list. It's like, can she please get her Hawaiian home? You know what?

She did not wait for nothing. She wanted her Hawaiian home. You know? And it's not just for her kids, yes, or her grandkids, but she but it's, you know, for her as well, as well as for me, as well as my sister, as well as Thank you. You know, others.

Thank you. Uh-huh. Any questions? Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Next testifier.

The next testifier is Mikey Burke who will be followed by Jay Kamiki Carter.

Hi. Before I begin, I wanted to provide some clarity on the FEMA situation because it when he was telling you that he didn't qualify for FEMA, a lot of you looked baffled. In the very beginning, when the homeowners were going to FEMA representatives here on island and even calling, the narrative that they were telling homeowners who had loss of use or ALE, insurance funding was that you do not qualify for FEMA until you exhaust that. And so what a lot of us homeowners were doing, we were going out and finding rentals on our own, using that money to exhaust it, and then trying to get into the FEMA program. So depending on how much money you had or the length of time that you had that money puts you up against the expiration date of whether you could sign up for FEMA because they did not allow you to even put in an application application until you had zero of those funds.

But what the real FEMA directive should have been that they didn't tell us was that you can get into FEMA direct lease or any of the programs that they had post disaster. You just had to give them your ALE money. You didn't have to exhaust it on your own and then enter. You could have entered right away and then just use your ALE to pay all the rent in all the FEMA housings and all the things. And so there was a real disservice disservice in our disaster, when that happened, and then it's affecting folks like uncle right here. You know? And he's not the only one. He's just the the bravest one to come and talk about it. So that's the that's the FEMA's disaster disaster situation for homeowners who had insurance that now do not qualify for FEMA. Okay.

Now I can now you can make my time go because I'm gonna need all three minutes. Yeah. I was a resource. Aloha kakou. My name is Mikey Burke.

It's always hard for me to indicate who I am testifying as because I come before you representing all the things that make me and inspire me and nourish me. I'm a Lahaina girl, a mother trying to protect my Keiki's village, a concerned citizen that wants you to support everything Keiki to Kupuna, and a passionate advocate for community organizations like Hola Yamaoyakama, who I'm just gonna say is actually asking 500,000 per testifier, and that's 5 plus me. So we're actually asking for 3,000,000 in the budget. And Lahaina Community Land Trust, to name a few. Mahalo for being here tonight, and maalo for the way that you have shown up for Lahaina over the past several years and for the Land Trust.

In the beginning, you may have thought that you were just funding a program, but in actuality, you invested in a community led vision. You stood with us early, and that trust is already shaping what Lahaina has become. So far, there are 10 ohana in the Keep Lahaina Home Insurance Gap program, and those 10 ohana equal sixteen hundred lived years in Lahaina. Just 10 families that you've helped to save sixteen hundred lived years. We have three legacy homes that are gonna be transferred upon death and 20 pieces of that we've secured.

And based on that zoning, we could construct up to 55 housing units. But I wanna take a moment to ground us in what that really is. This is not just affordable housing. This is not just recovery. We are in the middle of a once in a generation land transition where land that could have been lost forever is instead being secured for our community in perpetuity, and we are in a very narrow window to do this.

Right now, properties are coming up for sale, families are making really tough decisions, and we have maybe one to three years to meet this moment of urgency. Our recent acquisitions have ranged between 500,000 and 700,000 per property. It's a lot, but each one represents a home that will never again be priced out of the reach of our people. So tonight, I am asking you to restore the 6,000,000 in unrestricted funding for Lahaina Community Land Trust that the mayor had initially announced in his budget and to also retain the 2,400,000 already allocated for vertical construction through the grant from the affordable housing fund. We need both to to secure the land and build homes.

And I wanna be clear, this is not gonna be a permanent ask from the LCLT. This is about meeting a moment that will not come again. In a couple of years, I hope to be coming in front of you again only asking for the things that I ask for, supporting MEL transport services and for the head start program that's so important to income restricted and special needs children on this island. Because this isn't about land on paper, this is about whether the next generation of Lahaina families will still recognize themselves in the place they call home. And years from now, when people ask how much Lahaina was saved or how Lahaina saved, the answer will be tied directly to the decisions that you guys make in this very council.

This is your legacy too. This is our window to bring Lahaina back into Lahaina hands. If we miss this moment, we are not gonna get another one. Thank you.

Shirley, thank you for your testimony. Like, you said the mayor originally, well, said to you that you had 6,000,000 that he was gonna put in his budget and then took it out? When

he did his roadshow in this very building, and we came here to testify. And in his opening remarks, he had indicated that he had put $6,000,000 in for the Ohio Humanity Land Trust. So we we stood here that night, and we advocated for everything else under the sun. You know, pickleball, all the things, you name it, because we got out we got it in the bag. But what happened was when this affordable housing application opened for vertical construction, we also put in an application for that, not thinking that one would change the other.

And so when the affordable application came in for that specific grant that we were asking for for vertical construction Which was for how much? 2,400,000. I think, you know, the county saw that and said, oh, they only need 2,400,000, not the 6. So they made the change in the budget before it got to your hands. So what I'm trying to say is we need it all. We need the 6,000,000 to secure the and then we need the 2.4 to help to construct.

So the 2,400,000 is in the budget and comes out of the affordable housing fund?

Yes.

Okay. Yeah.

But the 6,000,000 that he had in there was coming from an unrestricted fund.

And you absolutely need it in this upcoming budget?

Yes. You know, what's happening right now is the settlement is coming to to the end. Right? And what what's what we've been told by our lawyers is you're the value that you're gonna get in the settlement changes immensely whether you own property or not. And so families have been holding on to their property with this intent of depending on what comes with the settlement, I may have to sell.

And so we're approaching this cliff right now. Once once the first payment and the settlement goes out, that value is permanent. So once they sell afterwards, it doesn't change the further settlement that that they they installments that they get from the settlement. And so we're waiting for this kind of wave of, families who are on the precipice of selling or not. And so in the next, you know, two to three years is what we're thinking we're gonna see this mass influx of families wanting to sell their homes. Okay. Very good. Sorry. Properties.

Very good. Thank you.

Thank you. Number okay. You got it. Thank you very much. Next testifier.

The next testifier is Jay Kamiki Carter, who will be followed by Steve Fisher.

Hi, you guys again. I wasn't going to testify, but I was told by my kupuna that I have to read on her behalf. So I'm just going to listen so. When I when I never had a DCMP through the state, Kamiki at Houola became my DCM. She came with me and supported me through different things that I was doing.

She emotionally was there when I attended the Hawaiian homelands meeting all the way up until I got my award letter. We later worked on getting me a DCMP with the state because as a resident of Kala'iola, I was required to have one, and I could lose my place because I wasn't in compliance. Kamiki helped to connect me with the DCMP, and now I'm in compliance. She also supported me to obtain services with the community and worked with me step by step. We need more DCMs like Kamiki and her team to work with us, Kupuna, step by step and do what we need so that we are not alone.

So, like, I I'm gonna cry because, like, this is what you guys don't hear, like, and see. Like, as Anakala was talking earlier, like, I was like, that's what we do. Like, we support. We listen. We sit down.

We gather their information. We actually see where not only financially gap, but where they are mentally and how we can support. And sometimes they just need to talk through the whole process. And in the last two and a half years, they've been just alone and, like, trying to navigate through whatever they are able to tap into. And so now, like, I'm thankful that auntie told me for do this because hearing, like, we are important.

And I've I've shared with you folks what we, you know, on a small aspect what we do. I just, you know, encourage that you continue to fund our program so we can continue to fund our lahui. And as he was seeing earlier, 500,000 per testimony. I testified at Kihei. That's 500 and then another 500 for me. So but mahalo.

Any questions?

Thank you. Thank you. And I'm happy they were able to answer your question about the faulty contractor.

Thank you. Next testifier, please. The next testifier is Steve Fisher who will be followed by Carolyn Aveloa.

I'm Steve Fisher. I live in the fire zone at the top of Fleming Road, which at the time was a dead end street. I actually evacuated with a a two year old and a five day old baby, and I was the last one on my street to evacuate. I got made sure every neighbor on my street was gone before I actually left. And I have two things to bring up.

One is a fire prevention idea that I came upon, and then the other one is a big safety issue that I work with with Roland Tanner and Lahaina Strong in Lahaina. If anyone knows what pencil cactus is or it's also called fire cactus in other parts of the island, just imagine a 100 or a thousand green pencils. You throw them down on the ground and they grow just like that. I panned pencil cactus around my property and it grew 15 feet. I did not know this prior to the fire, but the pencil cactus saved two thirds of my property from burning.

And it scales, but it won't burn. It's kinda like banana leaves. And so there's a there's a sap on the inside that's toxic. The pencil cactus is really easy to grow. It grows 15 feet. After the fire, I spoke with a representative of fire prevention from the Big Island. And actually today, I talked to a Mecotep that was up there, and he was asking me about the fire and and I showed him the pencil cactus. It'd be really easy to put pencil cactus anywhere there's a field with strong winds. I example, Kihei, Malaya, all through Lahaina here. You could plant it, irrigate it, and walk away.

So very low maintenance post putting it in the ground and it grows 15 feet. And when when it gets up and it grows full, you can't see through it. And embers can't get through it. So I actually think that the pencil cactus saved my house. My house is because I had multiple properties.

The other thing is is that I I do work with Roland Tanner and Lina Patrol, Lina Strong, and Neighborhood Watch. And there's a serious issue with speeding coming down Waikooli Road and Fleming Road. I'm on Fleming, I'm a little bit more hands on that. Prior when they built a FEMA housing up there, I knew all the superintendents at Kiwit that was the main contractor. And I actually spoke with him about putting in speed bumps above me.

They did not. There's not one speed bump above where my home is. And there's a stop sign, and their answer was, well, people are gonna stop. Just stand up there any day and watch them fly through at 40 miles an hour because they can come down the hill. I see people walking. I see people in wheelchairs up there. It is going to be a serious issue. Somebody is gonna get hit. I don't wanna be the one going out there and rendering aid. I would be because that's my nature, but I've actually spoke about this numerous times and I've seen zero follow by anyone in charge for safety.

Thank you. Member Paul Tett.

Have you put in a speed bump request form with the Department of Public Works? With Roland Tanner, yes. Okay. And have they got to

I've also spoke with Archie Colepa about where it would be best to stop people. And, again, and this has been going on for I've been helping with the line of patrol for about two years. I'm doing drive arounds at 02:30 in the morning and also trying to prevent people from stopping, but I'm not gonna get out in front of a car and try to stop somebody. But I'm gonna try to do my due diligence because, again, I do not want to be the person having to go there and rendering aid before the, you know, first responders get there.

So I know one of the requirements is they want like 80% of the affected property owners to agree with it. You guys filled out the form and

Yes. I'm gonna put that on Roland Tanner, but I'm gonna guess over the conversations and the meetings we have. We have brought this up numerous times. He's even put cameras on the street to get people. You know, it's it's actions happen after somebody gets killed.

Do you know if they've responded to the request at all?

I do not know. Okay. Roland would be no more I can get with you on that. But, again, actions happen after somebody gets killed.

Okay. I'll try to follow-up with him.

Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Cook.

Thanks. I got two questions. From your observation, is it the same people all the time, or is it just like anybody and everybody driving on the road?

I hate to say anybody and everybody. I won't wanna lean that. Yes. There are people that are consistently doing it, but I'm not actually out there watching them. So I I I can give you hands on, but I'm not gonna give you a 100%, you know, visibility on it.

No. And I I'm just getting at it. If it's like so think and then my other question was a pencil cactus. 15 feet tall. What's the diameter on a pencil cactus?

It'll be about six inches, eight inches. So it's solid.

So they're pretty rigid and they don't blow over?

They didn't blow over and I was out there in the 80 mile an hour winds. And prior to the fire, I was right up against the former cane fields. So it was a free line for all the embers to come on the property and it did not come on where the pencil cactus was planted and I actually lost my shop. It was a different part of the property and the pencil cactus did not burn. It got scalded, but the intact tree was still in place. Okay. Thank you. K.

Thank you very much. No further questions. Next testifier.

The next testifier and last person who signed up is Carolyn

Aveloa. Didn't know I was gonna get last place, but I'll take it. Hey, girl. Aloha. My name is Carolyn Aveloa.

I'm very proud to stand here with my community and many the many partners that we work with in in this work of recovery and staying strong for Lahaina. I just wanted to say part of what you wanna hear is not just what we need, but what worked well. And I was so proud of BJ and the Yadals and the long term recovery group because two years ago, when you guys trusted us with 3 and a half million dollars for insurance gap program, We made good on that, and we're we got 10 families so far. We spent that 3 and a half million. The 10 families so far, the BJ and his family are the first family that went home, and that was a huge that's a huge win and a huge testimony to what's yet to come.

We have two families actually that made it home already and eight more that are in the lineup, and they just keep coming. And that was possible because you guys trusted us to do this work, and we're doing it. And so I just wanted to start out with that big thank you, and and thank you for trusting us. We have made good on the trust. Every dollar you've given us, we have leveraged, and we've more than doubled and brought in more private funding to help support our work. And, again, that was like you guys were the igniter for that, and we just really appreciate it. We are making real progress towards helping to keep Lahaina lands in Lahaina hands. As Mikey shared, 20 properties are already secured forever. It'll never be sold again. 10 families rebuilding and coming home.

We disrupted three foreclosures. We have preserved 16 hundreds of still living sixteen hundred years of people still living in this generation. Doesn't even count the ancestors before them that are gonna continue to call Lahaina home. We're so proud of those metrics. And we are working very carefully with our first two opportunities for open space along Lahaina's oceanfront.

We're just now the the the the time is coming. It it's ripening, and we're just now finally getting that opportunity, and so we're working carefully through that. And as Mikey said, you know, we're we're asking to please restore that original 6,000,000. There was some kind of misunderstanding. We we believe that we were already in the mayor's budget for 6,000,000, and we applied for an additional 2.4 to help us move faster to get houses on all this land and bring more of our families home. And there's plenty of evidence of precedents for this kind of funding where you get funded through a a budget with the general funds, and you then can get funding through the affordable housing. So if anybody's wondering about that, there's plenty of precedents. We did the research. And where we are now, yeah, the settlement checks are coming. These decisions are gonna be made.

A lot of our that still wanna live in Lahaina, they're doing everything they can to come home. But, you know, we feel like the people that are holding out and that are gonna be making these decisions to sell when the settlements all start to get locked in and they start getting their checks are really really gonna be the maybe the folks that were long term rental or or non owner occupant anyway, you know, that just are like, ah, it's too much to rebuild. And and so we know because we see more and more properties are beginning to to be marketed, and we wanna be able to continue to stay in this super responsive posture. And so we need your help. In ten years, when we look back, will we be looking back with pride that we stayed steady in supporting this initiative and we were there when the when the moment really mattered, when the disaster capitalism wave really peaked, or will we have regret that we fell away just before that happened?

Please, we ask you to please continue to trust us and support Lahaina in this way. We are changing our future here. Together, we can continue to expand the safe harbor that we're building to ensure that Lahaina remains a community with deep roots and pilina with this place and each other, a community that shows up and takes care of each other, and that makes Lahaina special. The work that we're doing is rewriting the story of disaster recovery, and that's only possible because of all the ways we are all working together and the way that you guys are helping us make this happen, and the world is watching. This is all of our story, and we wanna thank you guys for being a big part of that.

Also wanted to give a shout out to CCLICFix. Thank you, Tamara, for turning me on to them and for Leaf. There are a fair number of what appears to be very illegal retaining walls. A huge one is right behind one of the homes that we're helping to rebuild. We filed a report. We filed a complaint. They went out in doing an investigation. There's no permit, no design. It's totally un unsafe. You we saw it go up.

The footing was only three feet deep, and this thing is nine feet tall. And there's, like, five feet of fill that the guy brought in behind it. So it's really unsafe, and it's it's so important, the role that Four Leaf has, and that they are doing these investigations. And I just wanna give a shout out to them and ensure that whatever needs to be done to address these unsafe circumstances get addressed. And turning off my hat Melantro's hat. Anything agriculture, please support. Anything to reduce deer, please support. And fences are great, but if we don't reduce the numbers, we're not gonna get anywhere. Thank you so much.

Okay. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. I gotta say, when

I first met you Yeah.

I think it must be six years ago when I did the access to your task force.

Yeah.

And her idea was doing bounty hunting. And I said, oh, how are we gonna do bounty hunting? She said, it can't be done. I think research is being done. Yeah. Okay. Now you can talk about Lahaina. Shirley.

Hi. Yes. Okay. You mentioned something about the houses being marketed. How many homes are being sold, and are they, you know, market priced or affordable?

Not not home. I'm sorry if I'm if I was not clear. Folks that were non owner occupant that are still holding on to their land because they're waiting to see what's gonna happen with the settlement, those are the properties that we are anticipating. If they haven't started rebuilding yet, maybe they're not going to, and they're gonna sell it and and move on. And those are the really the ones that we're trying to get out of that speculative market and put into a permanent affordable housing inventory for Lahaina.

Well, have you seen a trend of homes being or properties being sold?

Oh, yes. We monitor that very closely.

Yes. How

many are affordable, and how many are market priced? How many are affordable? Percentage.

For land or land or homes? Land.

Land. I wouldn't

call any of them affordable to the area median income in Lahaina. A resource person. Go ahead.

Nothing is affordable in 500

to 700,000.

For the land. For the land.

Just to land. Bear land.

It depends. Everything from

4,000 square feet up to 13,000 square feet.

Yeah. That's where the higher prices are coming in.

If you were to guess how many sales like that how many sales like that have been done?

In harvest. You remember that that annual report I gave you guys? There's a summary of total land sales in Lahaina since the fire, and it says, like, who's buying them. Sale prices for land, like she said, 5 to 700. Right now, there's a property listed that I think it's a new build on a burned lot. They rebuilt their house, a two story. It's being listed for almost 2,000,001.9, I think. When you look at the t n the the TMK RPG information, it was a property that was bought back in the day with a house on it for, like, 700. I I know. I think the tax value is 700,000.

They rebuilt their house, and they're flipping it for 2,000,000. That's gonna be the trend. If people don't wanna stay and they rebuild their house that they didn't live in, they're gonna sell it for 2,000,000. That's gonna be the new average in Lahaina unless we step in.

Probably a lot of re sales and not too much long term housing then.

If we don't every parcel that we don't nab that doesn't get rebuilt by a Lahaina family that's gonna stay or that we don't nab, if it gets rebuilt and sold, those sale prices are gonna be 1.5 minimum. And our best, most conservative math, a basic starter home that's rebuilt in Lahaina on a burned lot in fifteen years, it's gonna be worth $3,000,000. That's gonna be the sale price. So if we don't touch it, that's the that's gonna be the median price of homes in Lahaina in fifteen years. I hate that bath. Sorry. Have a cook.

Go ahead.

What's it is a big variable. What's the cost per square foot or for a three bedroom house, 2,000 square feet ballpark? What's the vertical cost?

If we can control it, it's 400

Mhmm. Square foot, but that's not what the

There's people paying more.

Sell?

No. No. But I'm just saying with the hard cost from your experience. You're building a few. So if you're gonna build a

Our cost is 400 square foot. But people who are building to resell, they're going way double check

with us.

Yeah. There's people paying a lot more.

Yeah. I got for my property alone, I got so far, we're gonna own a build because we just can't afford to pay a contractor to do it. But I got one estimate that was at $404.50 a square foot. Totally reasonable. The net they're looking at the same set of plans. My next one came in at 1,900,000 to build the same house that somebody said they could build me for 450. You know? And that was so that was double. It was it literally came in at almost 900 a square foot. So that's what that's what they're up against, or that's what we're up against in Lahaina.

If you are a non owner occupied property and you're planning to stick around

and rebuild your house, you're only rebuilding it to sell.

That that's the plan.

Or make multiple rentals that you're renting out for several thousand dollars apiece.

That's the plan.

Making it still hard to live here. K. Yeah. I actually have to move to Wailuku because I can't find a rental I can afford in Lahaina.

But who

wants to

drive me

in Wailuku?

I'm sorry. I'm gonna contribute to it, but I was like, it's that or live in Waikulee. We don't wanna live Waikulee. Trust us. Yeah. We're very friendly. We wanna stay over here. Badly. But it's just not in the it's not in the cards right now. Yeah. Any other questions?

Thank you. Yep.

Yeah. Check out that report, please. The 2025, we we put some really great stats in there and a lot of kudos to you folks. Mahalo.

Thank you. Thank you. Good job. Thank you. Wow. Okay. Next testifier.

That's it. That was it. That's all folks.

I was your last one.

Somebody that's already have signed up though. Okay.

Any any more testifiers? No, chair. Oh, that was the last one. Okay. Oh, last call.

Last call. Do you wanna make Last call. Any more testifiers? Last chance? Okay. Members, I'm gonna close public testimony. All of you, thank you very much for being here, and we hear we hear you. You know? We live you because we have this lady sitting next to me. Everything's related to Lahaina, so we get it. So at this time then, I'm gonna adjourn this meeting. Thank you very much, and we will see you again.