NAME: Tamara Akiko Maile Paltin

AGE: 47

RESIDENCE: Lahaina

OCCUPATION: Council member

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 August 2023 fires exposed vulnerabilities in our Maui Emergency Management Agency, communications systems and evacuation routes.  To address these issues we have replaced the former Emergency Management Administrator with an individual that has real life experience as a First Responder and was actually the Battalion Chief during the 2018 fire that affected Lahaina.  I am reviewing after action reports from the Maui Police Department, Maui Fire Department, Maui Emergency Management Agency, Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to find what recommendations can be funded and implemented.  I have been attending the Mill Camp focus group meetings and discussing with community members what additional evacuation routes the county can create and gathering feedback.  It is important that we participate with and fund the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization in their planning and outreach to create “firewire” communities.  We are also looking into the possibility of using R1 water to address the fallow agricultural lands that surround our residential areas in Lahaina to cut down on the fuel load surrounding residential areas.  We also need to work with HECO or any future electric company on their Public Safety Power Shutoff program and other initiatives for risk reduction.

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?

I am working on a resolution to urge the administration to align community plan updates in the aftermath of the Lahaina fire with a master infrastructure plan that includes not only roads, but water, sewer and R1.  To this end, I am trying to flesh out as much information as possible on community plan projects that include affordable housing and have not yet come to fruition in addition to projects that have been proposed in the aftermath of the fire and both government and private project rebuilds (projects indicating many units not just a single family home) then get community feedback on a master planned infrastructure build out that the community would support in order to amend the community plan based on community support and master planned infrastructure for permanent housing needs.  I am currently gathering as much information as possible on Pulelehua and Pu’ukoli’i Village Mauka, both of which are in our current community plan, allow for rental and for sale units, 50% of which are affordable and in talks with Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estates on their plans for the lands they own below the bypass.  Ultimately the most critical factor for permanent housing is water availability.

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?

I believe that if we choose to phase out non-conforming short term rentals, we need to do it in the most legally defensible way, which in other jurisdictions has proven to be a 3-5 year phase out.  We should determine which short term rental units are in what is traditionally known as resort areas, those that bring in more revenue and those that just make sense to remain as short term rentals due to small size, no parking or no kitchen facilities and if owners are amenable propose change in zoning to hotel where short term rental is an allowed use.  For those units along the shoreline that make sense to remain as short term rental, I would like to see a managed retreat plan as part of the change in zoning process.  In this way, we would not be reducing the revenue as severely and the loss could be made up in higher tiers of non-owner occupied, and other visitor accommodation zoning.  By phasing it out short term rentals over a longer time period, the financial impact won’t be as severe as we are in recovery.

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 have pivoted monies that were previously spent on marketing Maui to agriculture, we are looking into the film industry, but I think we have a great opportunity with the University of Hawaii extension campus on Maui and Molokai to expand into disaster recovery programs and pathways so that we become a leader in this industry especially as climate change is leading to more severe storms and droughts.  We also need to find a way to overhaul our civil service and collective bargaining systems so that the jobs we need to help society function, teachers, engineers, police, etc are able to make a living wage, this is one of the biggest problems in being able to have the staff needed to serve our community.

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?

For West Maui we are under a ground and surface water special management area designation and so we need to work closely with the Commission on Water Resource Management (DLNR) that water is allocated appropriately.  I would also like to propose in the rebuild of Lahaina, low flow fixtures be given out for free as part of a water conservation initiative, we also need to see how our R1 waters can be most beneficially used.

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? 

The managed retreat fund did collect its first year of revenue, and we may be looking at now how to utilize those funds in the practice of managed retreat of homes that are willing to retreat instead of rebuild and while there was a temporary pause, we do have funds to work with and shoreline to be protected so we can start there.

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

I support aligning our Salary Commission with Hawaii State law wording, as this would allow equal opportunity and equity for the other islands in our County to apply for appointed positions.

I support allowing members of boards and commissions to serve a second term in the same board or commission concurrently to utilize the expertise they have gained if they choose to and the council and Mayor would like to return them to that board and commission.

I support full time staff for the Board of Ethics, because many times we need to wait til the Board of Ethics have their meetings to answer simple questions and having a full time staff would allow for greater consistency and education of ethical issues.