When state Sen. Angus McKelvey called a meeting Tuesday night to hear what Lahaina residents want from the Legislature in the upcoming session, a little more than a dozen people showed up to weigh in.

The sparse attendance at the Lahaina Civic Center could perhaps be chalked up to “meeting fatigue” from a steady schedule of official gatherings in recent weeks meant to provide information to those impacted by the devastating Aug. 8 wildfire.

Just the night before, hundreds turned out for a county meeting at the same venue on a controversial proposal to locate a final disposition site for ash and debris cleared from the Lahaina burn zone.

Notwithstanding the small crowd at Tuesday’s event, McKelvey told Civil Beat before the meeting he had gotten hundreds of calls, texts and emails from constituents expressing their concerns. He told the meeting attendees that when the Legislature convenes next month it will be “the biggest session we’re going to face and we need to be united.”

His top proposals include ensuring the entire state, not just Maui County, participates in generating funds to support rebuilding Lahaina through taxes and fees, and establishing a special Maui recovery fund to ensure those revenues are used expressly for that purpose. 

“If the whole state chips in for Lahaina and we bump the GET slightly statewide and the TAT slightly statewide then we can generate the money over the years,” said McKelvey, whose district encompasses West and South Maui. “Putting it all on Maui’s back is very hurtful because in order to make that kind of money simply out of Maui’s stream of revenue would destroy the economy.”

He said he also plans to propose standing up a state bank to provide concessionary lending with terms more friendly to fire survivors than what profit-driven lenders can offer.  

McKelvey believes his colleagues at the Legislature are ready to support Lahaina’s recovery — to a point.

“I think there will be support if we’re raising the money for it,” he said. “I think where it’s going to be hard is if we come out with an open hand. One of the concerns given to me by some of my colleagues is they want to ensure the community is on the same page, that there’s some kind of a consensus so that the things that we’re seeking funding for, it’s not going to turn into a huge scene at the Capitol.” 

‘Truth In Giving’ Bill

The Democratic lawmaker has been staying at the Royal Lahaina Resort under the American Red Cross’s noncongregate shelter program since his three-bedroom condo on Limahana Place was rendered uninhabitable by the fire. 

McKelvey said he missed Gov. Josh Green’s Monday press briefing on his proposed $19.2 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Green said Maui’s recovery from the August wildfires will cost the state government an estimated $500 million in the year ahead.

Maui residents have not been shy about sharing their concerns following the wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry.

Other legislation McKelvey is considering includes using state infrastructure funds to help place utilities underground and imposing a fee on large landowners to be used for firefighting response. Considering the millions of dollars raised by assorted fundraising campaigns to benefit Lahaina, he also favors a “truth in giving” bill that requires full disclosure from charities on how donations will be spent.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Rick Nava, a member of Mayor Richard Bissen’s Lahaina Advisory Team that was formed in the wake of the disaster to represent community interests, urged the state to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend the Lahaina Bypass farther north to Mahinahina. He noted the mauka highway enabled many residents to flee to safety.

Nava also advocated for underground utilities, making more water available to keep the slopes above Lahaina green, actions to prevent rent gouging, and support for a fire station in Olowalu outside of Lahaina town.

The entire West Maui area is served by just two fire stations, one in Lahaina and the other to the north in Napili. Even before the wildfire, the West Maui Improvement Foundation was leading a campaign to raise funds to build a fire station in Olowalu, as it did to establish the Napili station.

Just hours before Tuesday’s meeting, firefighters battled a house fire in Olowalu that threatened to spread to neighboring properties in gusty conditions, stoking fears of another disaster. 

Maui residents have not been shy about sharing their concerns following the wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry. According to the initial findings of a FEMA analysis of public testimony at recent Maui County Council proceedings, the top two themes to emerge were prioritizing “community voices and needs in rebuilding Lahaina” and better protecting West Maui from future fires and other hazards.

The analysis, meant to inform recovery planning, reviewed nine council meetings from Sept. 27 to Nov. 2.

Other priorities included increasing housing affordability and employment options so Lahaina residents can return; decreasing dependence on “extractive tourism;” highlighting and integrating Native Hawaiian and multicultural landmarks and practices; building resilient and sustainable infrastructure and policy; creating equitable water rights and land use policy; demonstrating trauma-informed leadership and giving community members time to heal; and increasing shoreline and green space.

Policy suggestions offered up in testimony before the council included a ban on short-term rentals, rebuilding Front Street as Alanui Ka Mo’i in recognition of Lahaina’s vital role in the history of the Hawaiian kingdom, allowing tiny homes on wheels to be hooked up to water and sewer systems, and a special tourism tax dedicated to rebuilding Lahaina.

Zones Open For Re-Entry

In the meantime, the county has been transitioning from response to recovery mode after the last remaining zones in the 5-square-mile Lahaina Wildfire Disaster Area were opened for re-entry last week, completing the re-entry process for all 83 fire-impacted zones more than a week ahead of time. 

The Environmental Protection Agency wrapped up its work of removing hazardous materials from burned areas in Lahaina, Kula and Olinda at the end of November, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is projected to begin ash and debris removal and soil testing in Lahaina in mid-January.   

Also last week, the Department of Water Supply removed 69 lots near Kapunakea Street on the mauka side of Honoapiilani Highway from an unsafe water advisory, declaring the water in the area, identified as L-4B on the Maui Recovers website, safe for unrestricted use, including drinking.

Other areas in Lahaina remain under the unsafe water advisory until further notice.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.