After Mayor Richard Bissen finished first out of 10 candidates in the primary election, second-place finisher and Council Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura faces an uphill battle as they both vie for the thousands of votes that went to the other candidates.

Bissen and Sugimura have diverged on critical issues that include housing and water, especially when it comes to Bissen’s proposal to phase out thousands of short-term rentals and his administration’s priority of acquiring private water systems.

The type of council the eventual mayor ends up working with will also be decided in the Nov. 3 general election with two open seats. Chair Alice Lee is retiring and Sugimura did not seek reelection to run for mayor.

Lee and Sugimura are two of the five-member moderate bloc that currently holds sway over the four progressives. For the next council, the progressives already are guaranteed two seats, with Keani Rawlins-Fernandez (Molokaʻi seat) and Gabe Johnson (Lāna‘i seat) both running unopposed.

At a candidate forum last week in Kula, Bissen, Sugimura and 12 of the 14 candidates for the Maui County Council tackled some of the most high-profile issues facing their districts and the county. Here’s what they had to say.

Mayor’s Race: Housing, water, county costs

Bissen said he is running again because he wants to continue what he started after spending the last few years “building the foundation to recover our community” from the 2023 Lahaina and Kula wildfires.

“It’s important that we stress keeping our families home here on Maui, those who choose to be here,” he said. “That is one of the main things that we focused on during this time, and also keeping our community safe.”

Bissen said affordable housing has increased by 190% over the last three and a half years and that another 3,000 affordable units are on the horizon. Bill 9, which he described as his “bold” proposal to phase out short-term rentals in hopes of creating more housing after the fire, was passed by the council last year.

But Sugimura, who has opposed the bill over concerns about the economic impacts of tens of millions of lost tax revenue, differs on Bissen’s approach. She said “the reason why I decided to take this step forward is because I thought we can do better.”

She said she was almost late to the forum because she was in committee meetings working on changes to Bill 9. 

“It is not the way to build housing, and I propose we can do better by actually building housing, creating jobs and not taking housing to give to another,” she said. “We can help by building economic resiliency.”

Both candidates agree water is a major issue. Bissen has made acquiring major private water systems a goal of his administration, and Sugimura comes from a district where residents have waited years for their chance at a water meter connection to county service. 

Sugimura said she had good news for people on the list — work on the Kamaole Weir, Maui’s largest surface water treatment facility, should be completed soon, allowing the county to issue more water meters for connection to county service.

Bissen said replacement of the water filter should be done by the end of October and will take about six months of testing. This will double Upcountry’s water capacity. He added that two more wells are also being considered to increase capacity for Upcountry, which is frequently put on water restrictions.

As the county aims to acquire private water systems, Sugimura said the county needs a master plan “so we understand what we’re going to do.”

“I am very concerned not only about the systems — will it provide more reliability, capacity and storage, but also the costs for it,” she said. “And as always, I worry about what is it going to cost you, the user.”

Bissen said voters showed interest in the county taking more control over water when they approved the creation of the East Maui Water Authority in 2022 with the goal of seeking water licenses for the area. Bissen said Maui County has “the least control of water compared to the other three counties,” and tentative plans to acquire Maui Land & Pineapple’s water system will put 93% of water in West Maui under public control.

“However you add that up, that is a positive for us,” he said. 

Curbing costs for residents is something both candidates want to do. Sugimura, the council’s budget chair, said Maui County has $200 million in carryover savings, “and what that means to me is that we are overtaxing you.”

She said as mayor, she would seek to pare down the budget. She added that she has proposed increasing the homeowner exemption for property taxes to $400,000, though it hasn’t been approved yet.

Bissen noted the budget chair has the ability to look into making changes to the budget. He also pointed out that Maui County already has the lowest property tax rates in the state, but the problem is that property valuations are extremely high. He also didn’t see carryover savings as a bad thing — that means things cost less than the county had budgeted for or certain items had to be pushed to another fiscal period. 

“The question is how do you use it … when it comes back to you?” Bissen said.

West Maui: Recovering from the fire

After four terms, incumbent Council Member Tamara Paltin, a progressive who holds the West Maui seat, says there’s still a lot she wants to get done. Lahaina is still deep into its recovery from the 2023 wildfire. The council’s review of the South Maui Community Plan is coming up. If she wins reelection this year, she’ll have one more two-year term to serve.

“The overarching goal is to improve our residents’ quality of life and to look and focus on county-level solutions,” Paltin said. 

In Lahaina’s recovery, Paltin said preserving history and culture and improving public safety are the central focus. She’s supportive of the administration’s efforts to rebuild the Lahaina Royal Complex, and why the council is also working with the administration to improve evacuation routes and parking requirements.

In West Maui, Paltin said the challenge is also figuring out how to support the economy while not overwhelming the rebuilding town. She said she’s been working with the Maui Economic Recovery Commission’s Healing Journey Team that was created after the fire and stood up events like Pa‘ūpili Lahaina 3rd Saturdays for local vendors and local resources as well as the Lahaina Homecoming.

She suggested the visitor industry focus on attracting the type of tourists who “enhance the experience” and come to learn and volunteer rather than simply generate revenue that often goes off island. She sees the chance for cultural exchange, especially in parts of Oceania that share similarities with Hawai‘i.

“My idea is not to shift the sentiment to tourism,” she said. “It’s more to shift the (tourists) that are coming. People who are interested in the authentic culture, not so much the hula show.”

Her opponent Mark Tillman did not participate in the forum.

Makawao-Ha‘ikū-Pā‘ia: Battling invasive species and fire

If there’s one thing that incumbent Council Member Nohe U‘u-Hodgins, a moderate, and opponent Stevie Kathryn Chung agree on, it’s that invasive species are a big problem in the Makawao-Ha‘ikū-Pa‘ia district that both of them want to represent. 

“Our district has been severely impacted by invasive species,” said U‘u-Hodgins, who is finishing her second term.

On a late night while driving home on Hāna Highway, the coqui frogs were so loud that Chung “almost cried,” saying: “I hate the invasives so much.”

Chung wants to do “everything that we can to help” the Maui Invasive Species Committee have the staffing and resources they need to fight invasives like coqui frogs, which are especially hard to control in Ha‘ikū’s deep gulches, as well as fire ants and plants that threaten native wildlife.

U‘u-Hodgins suggested prioritizing a “hit list” of invasives to tackle — getting rid of fire ants, for example, is “extremely, extremely important.” So is stopping coconut rhinoceros beetles after they were spotted on Maui and Moloka‘i earlier this year. 

Fire is also a concern in the district. Last year the Pā‘ia community had a scare when a 380-acre fire broke out in the open fields mauka of town. U‘u-Hodgins pointed out there have been community meetings, which she helped organize, to educate the community on escape routes and making their properties fire resilient. 

“As we do new construction in Pā‘ia … we do have new plans, not only for building but for fire to ensure that it’s as safe as we can be,” said U‘u-Hodgins, whose husband is a firefighter.

Chung agreed with U‘u-Hodgins about keeping the community informed and said that speed bumps — which the county has been working to install in more areas — should also be checked to make sure that they aren’t slowing first responders. In Ha’ikū, resident concerns about newly installed speed bumps spurred the county to pause the project.

“I would love to work on fire mitigation plans and everything in the new construction as well,” Chung said. 

Wailuku-Waihe‘e-Waikapū: Water and development

Marvin Moniz, the primary election frontrunner in the race to fill Lee’s open seat, may have decades of experience in state government as the longtime Maui airports manager, but his opponent Ashley Awakea Lindsey, who finished second in the primary, hopes her work at the county level will set her apart.

Lindsey leaned into her community service on Wednesday night, pointing out she has served on the Maui Planning Commission and the Maui Redevelopment Agency where she voted for initiatives like the Small Town Big Art project in Wailuku. She said her experience has helped her understand developments from both sides. 

That’s why she sees the requirement for infrastructure to be in place prior to development as a tricky “chicken and the egg” situation. Developers need to sell homes to make money to pay for infrastructure, but homes can’t be sold without infrastructure, so there is motivation on both sides, Lindsey said.

“It’s definitely a case-by-case basis because it sets back a lot of housing, for example, for our local people if the development can’t go through,” Lindsey said. “As long as it’s in the community’s best interest to build it, to have it, I think give an inch.”

One of the most critical infrastructure systems on island is in Lindsey’s district — Wailuku Water Co. Maui County administrations have wanted to acquire the company for years, and water system acquisition has been a priority of Bissen’s.

Lindsey said she was supportive of the county buying the water company.

“I support the county acquiring that for sure because of how important it is to our community,” she said. “It impacts … almost everybody on this island daily.”

Moniz was unable to attend due to a family emergency.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is Part 2 of the eight Maui County Council and mayoral races featured in last week’s political forum.

Part 1 included the other four contested County Council races:

In council rematches, candidates dive into development, tourism, homelessness, water