NAME: Tom Cook

AGE: 69

RESIDENCE: Kihei, Hawaii

OCCUPATION: County of Maui Councilman, South Maui district

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? 

One issue was not paying attention to post-fire and disaster reports and addressing the recommendations.

The fire department does not grow in size with the population. It grows by building new fire stations. Investing in fire stations and fire fighting equipment to support the firefighters is necessary with our growing population and the development of new areas.

Developing our R1 water storage and use. Supporting building storage tanks and ponds.

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

The housing issue is not new, but the Lahaina and Kula fires have transformed it from a crisis to a catastrophe. 

The solution is multi-faceted.  

Identify current short-term rentals appropriate for long-term rental to local families and negotiate with owners for change of use. The Council is contracting a study to accomplish this.  Our County needs to maintain the TVR units for our economy where appropriate and rezone them for Hotel use.

Allow people to build homes and ADUs on their land using water tanks if County water is unavailable in the area yet. Allow fire sprinklers to be viewed as part of the fire protection needs.

Simplify our land use and building codes to accommodate building needed homes.

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

As stated above, I support identifying appropriate residential units for desperately needed local housing.

I support phasing out short-term single-family residential units in neighborhoods.

I do not support phasing our short term rental units in total.  Upzone to hotel use and maintain the vacation rental tax revenues.

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?

Our local and state governments can allow our economy to grow by changing the regulatory process to guardrails for the health and safety of the community and eliminating the current practice of regulations being a series of hurdles that unnecessarily increase the time and risk of opening a small business or building a home. 

Our reconstruction of homes and businesses is an opportunity to establish a stable middle class for many years.  

The visitor industry is a market for our locally grown meat, poultry, fruits, and vegetables. Exporting agricultural products has proven too expensive. Work with the visitor industry to be the main supplier of needed food whenever possible.

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

Maui has water resources that need to be used wisely. R1 water can be used for many irrigation needs. Substituting R1 water for potable water when possible is a better use of this pressure resource. Drilling wells conservatively to stay well below the stated sustainable yield, building reservoirs to capture and store water during high rain events, and planting appropriate trees to enhance rainfall on our island home are other ways to use this pressure resource.   Allow and encourage people to use rain catchment where possible.

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 funding housing and other fire-related issues? 

Advocate, encourage, and allow our community to build homes and businesses. We are an island community. We need to have a production economy, not a consumer economy. Accept managed tourism as a current and foreseeable future part of our economy. Use it to build our farming and ranching economy.  

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

I support all three.