KAHULUI >> Hawaii’s four county mayors took the stage Thursday at the 22nd Native Hawaiian Convention, taking place on Maui, for a panel to discuss their approaches to Hawaii’s housing crisis.
The panel took place 100 days after the Aug. 8 fires that destroyed thousands of homes on Maui in the historic town of Lahaina and more than 20 in the Upcountry community of Kula. The fires, which killed at least 100 people, are the deadliest U.S. wildfires in a century.
Thousands are homeless as Hawaii already faces a housing crisis that has prompted many longtime residents to leave due to the cost of living and challenges finding housing. Today more Native Hawaiians live on the mainland than in the islands.
At the conference, the mayors argued that radical change may be necessary to address the problem.
“We have issues of private ownership, people who have private ownership of homes, private water systems that people have developed,” said Maui Mayor Richard Bissen. “So yes, there are things that government can do for sure. Government can take from one and give to another. Government can do that.”
That line was met with intense applause from the crowd, though Bissen stressed that using the force of government to open up rooms or redistribute land isn’t his first choice, as it comes with serious challenges and implications.
But he also said that his administration has already been meeting with real estate and tourism companies that hold land, asking for help as thousands of Maui residents remain homeless after the fires.
“What the county is seeking is voluntary compliance from the industry to donate the rooms, or the homes, and stuff that we need. That’s the first thing, is to ask, ‘Can you turn your units into that?’” said Bissen. “Now, if they say no, then we have the option that has been talked about. It’s not that we don’t understand the option or we’re not aware of the option. The question is, as my fellow mayors have said, When do you make that call? When do you do it, because of what comes with that? And so that’s the discussion.”
Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said, “I really think with all the tools that we have, whether it’s federal money, like tax credits, all of the boring stuff, our toolbox has a lot of tools. But to me the biggest component is you’re going to need to have elected officials and leaders that are willing to lose friends along the way. And, quite honestly, to make it very simple.”
“In Hawaii, relationships are everything,” said Kawakami. “People that helped you along the way, those relationships are worth its weight in gold. And yet, in order for us to make the choice changes that are necessary to keep our people thriving and moving forward, we have to at times put those relationships in jeopardy and be at peace with that.”
But plans for developing new housing have been fraught, especially as new developments threaten wildlife habitats and agricultural lands across the islands. Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said, “We focus on things that we don’t want versus what we do want.”
Roth said that when his administration came into office, “we had about 1,200 homes or affordable housing units in our pipeline. And we knew right from the get-go, we need to get to 10,000 before 2025.”
He cited a recent study from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization that found that Hawaii has one of the most restrictive and cumbersome permitting systems in the nation.
“Oftentimes, government is looking at how you regulate things. And we have to change that philosophy from government from being regulators to being facilitators, to make it happen, get it together — get together with people that can make it happen,” said Roth. “You have to develop, but you don’t have to develop the kinds of places that they have on the mainland. To do that you can do it in a local style.”
He said Hawaii County is in talks with Department of Hawaiian Home Lands about giving it land for more housing.
“As we lose our Hawaiian kids, we lose our culture. As we lose our culture, we lose our identification of who we are. And as we lose our identification of who we are, we become California,” said Roth. “Those are local people. We want our local people to be in houses. It’s building partnerships. Building partnerships, it’s thinking ways that we haven’t done things before.”
“Although a majority of our people understand that we need housing, it’s hard for them to embrace that change if that change is happening in their backyard,” said Kawakami. “And until you get leaders that are at peace with ‘for the greater good’ and losing people along the way, we will continue to be in a whirlpool of just stagnation and trying to do the same things over and over again.”
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recalled the immediate aftermath of the fire when the state opened up the Hawai‘i Convention Center in anticipation of evacuees from Maui.
“We were trying to prepare on Oahu for an influx with everybody to come over to seek respite and shelter,” said Blangiardi. “We ended up having to close the convention center. And we never got a group of people … because people stayed on-island. If that doesn’t speak to an incredible, intense love of place, I don’t know what does. And when you have that as a foundation, you know, nothing can stop you going forward.”
Bissen said that on Maui, as officials and agencies sift through the rubble, outside companies have come in pitching lofty ideas. But there are significant challenges. The fires heavily damaged the water system and other systems that would be required to support housing. Repairing, let alone expanding, those systems would be a long and costly process.
“People talk about building things, putting up tiny homes. I’m going to say right now, every company, I think — in the United States or various around the world — has contacted us about bringing tiny homes here,” said Bissen. “Infrastructure is one of the barriers to our housing, at least on Maui. So if we’re going to build housing, new housing, then we need to face those challenges. And these aren’t new challenges.”
Bissen acknowledged that many Maui residents have expressed interest in tiny homes. But he also said that many people from around the world own homes on Maui that they hold onto as vacation homes for themselves or to use on the short-term rental market.
“One of the things we have on Maui is we have lots of inventory,” said Bissen. “The issue of ‘Is there enough homes on Maui?’ Oh, there are plenty of homes on Maui — empty homes on Maui.”
“We want everybody from Lahaina to remain in Lahaina, people from Kula to remain in Kula,” said Bissen. “We want people to be where they’re from. We don’t want people selling their lands, we don’t want people selling their homes, we don’t want people giving in to opportunists that will try to capitalize on what’s happening to our community.”
