Aloha ‘Aina candidates Tiare Lawrence (left) and Nāpua Greig-Nakasone sign wave on a Valley Isle roadside Tuesday, June 28. They seek to represent Upcountry in the Hawai‘i state House and Maui County Council, respectively, and will appear at a candidates forum 6 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at Keokea Marketplace. Photo credit: Votetiare.com image votetiarte.com

Property taxes, water rights and development are among the issues to be discussed at an Upcountry Aloha ʻĀina candidate forum.

Organizers say a the forum will feature seven candidates and that the event is open to the public, and especially to native Hawaiian homesteaders.

The event is schedule to start at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at the Kēōkea Marketplace.

Forum participants include Maui County Council candidates Alika Atay of Wailuku; Richard DeLeon of South Maui; Keani Fernandez of Molokai; Trinette Furtado of Haʻikū; Nāpua Greig-Nakasone of Upcountry Maui, and Shane Sinenci of East Maui; plus Tiare Lawrence for state House District 12-Upcountry.

Aloha ʻĀina advocates say their “project is an effort to mobilize kanaka Hawaiʻi and supporters to stand for the protection of precious land and natural resources.”

The sponsoring Kēōkea Homestead Farm Lots Association plans a panel format giving candidates eight minutes each to introduce themselves, and respond to Hawaiian homestead-related questions about property-tax exemptions, water rights and homelands development. A question-and-answer period will follow.

The candidates forum also will offer voter and absentee-ballot registration to meet the Thursday, July 14, deadline to register to vote in the Saturday, Aug. 13, primary election.

Kēōkea Marketplace is located at the 17 Mile Marker of Kula Highway at Kaʻamana Road. The nonprofit Kēōkea Homestead Farm Lots Association represents Maui’s only agricultural homestead, encompassing 66 two-acre lots dedicated to sustainable, subsistence farming since 1986.