NAME: Kelly Takaya King

AGE: 64 years young

RESIDENCE: Kihei, Hawaii (40+ years)

OCCUPATION: Vice President, Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, LLC

1. What were the biggest vulnerabilities that the Kula and Lahaina fires exposed, and how would you as a council member work to address those issues? 

The biggest vulnerabilities were above ground electrical lines, lack of firebreaks and weak communications on the part of the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). While I have spoken out about these issues in my past terms, and even gotten funding to help with communications, they clearly need stronger follow up by the County Council. I would push to hear CM Johnson’s bill about underground utilities (which my opponent refused to schedule in his infrastructure committee) and follow up directly with MEMA (as well as in public meetings) to make sure funding is well spent and the issues are being addressed during the rebuild planning phase. I am also currently helping the local state Red Cross Green Team with planning a Resilience Summit for the Pacific Region, and am advocating to include these and other mitigation issues in this solutions oriented event!

2. With so many people in temporary housing situations after the fires, how should we as a county pivot to address the need for affordable housing going forward? 

We should absolutely require water resources be used for affordable housing first, and stop luxury and high end housing projects until we allocate the needed water and wastewater capacity for sufficient affordable housing. The County has also been given generous funding by the State Legislature for wildfire recovery and should consider buying appropriate condo projects (especially those originally designated as workforce housing which have since become short term rentals) to use as affordable rentals for those in temporary housing. Also, FEMA rental payments need to be decreased as they are causing an unacceptable inflation in rental rates throughout the County!

3. What is your stance on Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposal to phase out short-term rentals in Maui County? If it passes, where could we find the funds to replace vacation rental tax revenues? 

As tourism regains momentum, we need to ensure our number of accommodations is in line with the desired tourism threshold described in our Maui Island Plan. I would be in favor of converting some, but not all, of the current permitted operations to residential; however, I do not want the conversion of South and West Maui units to encourage new hotels to be built. The Council needs to develop an action plan which aligns the desired proper number of tourists with the available visitor units on the island, and also respects the desires of residents (ie. not all locals can afford high-end condos, nor do they all want to live in South Maui). This should also help align the South Maui Community Plan as the current version includes way too many “residential” but not affordable-designated units. I think we can create a voluntary process of conversion of some properties if the County offers to help with the aging infrastructure of those that will convert to long term rentals. There are major issues with the sewage pipes in many of our older coastal properties that will be cost prohibitive to locals if the county doesn’t help fund the repairs.

4. Many local businesses couldn’t survive the decline in tourism during the pandemic and after the fires. What can the county do to make our economy more resilient and foster the growth of other industries in addition to tourism? 

We do need to diversify our economy to be less dependent on tourism. While I support the level of tourism described in our Maui Island Plan, the County can encourage and foster diversification by funding other industries as we started doing for Agriculture in my second term when we elected a majority of more resident-focused councilmembers back in 2018. Since growing funding for farmer education and micro-grants for local farmers, we have seen a resurgence in local agriculture which is also helping our food security issue. The County should also offer grants for small businesses and to encourage other burgeoning local industries such as film and the arts, technology/research, environmental restoration/climate mitigation, renewable energy, etc. Additionally, we have many vacancies in our county departments, first responder agencies, education and health systems, etc. that could possibly be filled if we give some affordable housing priority to folks in these sectors.

5. Drought, fires, housing projects and large-scale agriculture remind us that water is in short supply and high demand. How can we make sure the county has enough water resources to go around? 

This can be accomplished by passing an ordinance that prioritizes water for our affordable housing projects and local agriculture, and investing in water storage to take advantage of upcountry storm waters which would also help alleviate flooding in our coastal neighborhoods. Prioritizing 100% Affordable Housing projects might also get the high-end developers and contractors to help with water storage projects. Instead, our current Planning Commission’s practice seems to be to give the market housing developments exemptions to conditions they have already agreed to (ie. Wailea 670).

6. The council recently passed a bill that paused the Managed Retreat Fund. However, sea level rise and erosion are still a problem, including at Baldwin Beach Park where the pavilion was removed last month. How can we address eroding shorelines while still making sure housing and other fire-related issues are funded? 

It was a mistake to pause the Managed Retreat Fund and shows why we need a more forward-thinking, environmental and local resident-focused majority on the Council. During my previous terms, our Council was starting to address the protection of our coral reefs (ie. ending the practice of injection wells, banning chemical sunscreens and banning pesticides formerly used on County properties) which in turn protects against erosion. These and other protections can make a huge difference while not requiring massive funding, but the current council is starting to walk back environmental protections which is short-sighted in my opinion.

7. What is your stance on the Maui County charter amendments that will appear on the ballot? 

I support the first two, aligning the Salary Commission with the State definition and making the Board of Ethics more independent. I oppose the third charter amendment that would result in automatic extension of board and commission appointees whether or not they are doing a good job of representing our community needs.