Name on ballot:

Alana Kay

Running for:

Maui Mayor

Political party:

No answer submitted

Campaign website:

www.alanakayformayor.info

Current occupation:

Author and Publisher

Age:

62

Previous job history:

Apartment Management, Painting and Cleaning businesses, Sales

Previous elected office, if any:

None

Please describe your qualifications to represent the voters of your county.

I have been a member of the rank and file for 24 years on Maui, have a sustainability education and have been studying the issues for a couple decades.

What is the most pressing need for the people you seek to represent, and what will you do to address that need?

Food Security. We need to diversify our economy toward agriculture instead of tourism.

Rising inflation has significantly worsened Hawaii’s already high cost of living. What can be done at the county level to help residents cope with high consumer prices?

Reduce government spending and diversify the economy

What specific solutions do you propose to combat homelessness and to make housing more affordable to residents?

Move away from a tourism based economy which drives up the cost of housing. We must manage tourism.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, what more should county government do to protect residents’ health?

There are two ways of looking at health. Most importantly, government should not be the arbiter of health. Those who believe in eating healthy, exercising and having a positive outlook don’t believe that medication is a pathway to health. County government should honor citizen’s right to choose.

What should county government do to help residents who have been economically affected by the pandemic?

I believe county government is solely responsible for the losses incurred by businesses during the shut down. In hindsight, municipalities where shut downs were not mandated fared better on all fronts than those that did not shut down. This should be a lesson learned.

What reforms, if any, would you propose to make county government more transparent to the public?

I think government is already pretty transparent, but not necessarily responsive. People need to pay closer attention to council meetings and look at the budget.

Do you think more needs to be done at the county level to manage tourism? If so, what would you propose?  

I believe this is best handled by a committee or task force. My personal opinion is that we need to limit the number of short-term rentals and raise the taxes on properties used as such even more than the recently enacted 3% tax. We could also have a tiered tax structure where the more units one owns, the higher the percentage of taxes which would discourage large investors. We need to move more to agricultural tourism and voluntourism.

What would you propose to help diversify the county’s economy beyond tourism?

Really get behind agriculture and value added ag products. We are already on a pretty good trajectory in this regard. The community and Mahi Pono need to come together to make this happen. The government could do much to enable better relationships.

What can county government do to mitigate the affects of sea-level rise?

I don’t know that there is much that can be done about sea level rise. However, Maui County must do much more to stop damaging our eco-system and island hydrology.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

I know that we have many hidden issues on Maui. I am not the type of person who goes for a superficial fix. I am patient, insightful and willing to get things done.