WAYNE NISHIKI
What’s the biggest issue you want to tackle?
The economy and jobs. We already see where people that have been laid off are hurting. Construction jobs right now are lacking. If we build 100 percent affordable housing, houses that are $250,000 and below, and also rentals, we can [create] construction as well as provide the kind of housing that people in Maui need. I’m done with high-end housing that is sucking up water and using our precious resources.
Talk about water use as it relates to development.
We can’t develop without more water. Why should we build million dollar homes? If we’re going to use water, [the priority should be] affordable [housing] for people that live here, work here, that are living two, three, even four families in a house. We can free up probably three to four million gallons in Kihei alone; seventy percent of the water that is being used from the Iao aquifer is used for irrigation purposes. [We need to] use water coming from a reclamation plant, create an alternative water line and find out where some of the users are—condominiums use up a lot of water, hotels use a lot of water. [The other issue] is conservation. Hotels, businesspeople and residents have got to work together.
What can be done at the council level to achieve progress with regard to renewable energy?
In the presidential election, it doesn’t matter if Barack wins or the Republican candidate wins, we’re going to see 5 million jobs being created in the energy field. The cost of oil is so [high] now, we’ve seen all kinds of companies going in and trying to develop energy sources. One can be solar, one can be wind, one can be ocean. But we’ve got to really put an emphasis on developing these sources.
What’s your take on Wailea 670?
Lehman Brothers was heavily involved with 670; we’ve seen the crash of Lehman Brothers, so I really don’t see 670 coming back again. But you need to ask Charlie Jenks, who gave Don Couch a campaign donation, whether it’s coming back. The development itself had no water, so why did the council even continue having discussion on it? We were also told that the [affordable housing] was going to be put in the light industrial area. As someone born and raised here, dignity is really important for me. I don’t want to see the affordables in [that area], and then the million dollar homes being put on the hill. I put on my pants the same way a millionaire [does].
In your previous council stint, you had a reputation as someone who voted “no.” In these tough times, don’t you think the answer has to be not “no,” but “how”?
Yes. If you look at the record of Wayne Nishiki, you will see that I voted [yes] on things the community needed: fire stations, police stations, youth centers, senior centers, affordable housing projects. It’s not that Wayne Nishiki is against anything, it’s that Wayne Nishiki cares about the people of Maui County. For me, yes, it’s questioning any project that comes in. I’m not a dummy; I’m not a clone. I’m an independent voice that hasn’t taken any money from developers. No developer is going to come into my office. I’m sorry, that’s not how I operate.
Choose one: the environment or the economy?
I’m going to have to pick the environment. If we don’t have pristine oceans, if we don’t have beautiful sunsets and sunrises, if we don’t have people that are so nice and so respectful of one another—that’s the reason why people come. That’s the reason why people are so nice and soft here. Once you start throwing down concrete, you will see people also turn hard. I don’t want to see this for Maui County.
DON COUCH
What’s the biggest issue you want to tackle?
It was water, now it’s the economy. But they both go hand-in-hand.
Big picture, where do you stand on the water issue?
The county needs to have control of all the water systems on Maui. I know that’s a very hard thing to do, there are a lot of private systems out there. But water is one of those things like roads—it’s something the county needs to take control of. [Otherwise] you can get foreign countries starting to buy up all the water systems and then who knows what’s going on? Water is an essential thing for people to live, and so it should be a government function. [With regard to conservation]: A better solution [than usage restrictions] would be to have a stiffer tiered system for water rates. Money is a huge incentive for people. If it’s going to cost them a lot to use a lot more water than they should, they’re going to conserve. You can do it commercially as well. If you make it very expensive to have your lush green trees, and resorts want to say, that’s out cost of doing business, we’ll pay it, we’re going to get extra money so we can put it back into our [water] infrastructure.
Should the Maui County Visitors Bureau be funded at its current level of $3.8 million? Less? More? Why?
This has been an argument every year. There’s no real quantitative way to determine whether or not we are getting our money’s worth. I think we are, but I’d like to see more accountability. Right now, 40 percent of Maui’s economy is tourism. Businesses are closing down because we’re not getting tourists. Until we can wean ourselves from tourism and make not as huge a portion of our economy we still have to make sure that we get some tourists. I’d like to see some more measurements for MVB. But we’ve got to compete for tourist dollars. I’d say [keep the funding] level. I certainly wouldn’t increase it at this point because we can’t keep increasing all kinds of things; we need to be a little bit more careful about where we spend our money.
What can the county do to ensure food security?
I’d like to be able to say let’s get some community gardens going, let’s get some agriculture going. I started out saying that, but then started talking to the farmers. The problem with farming here on Maui is it costs more to grow something here than it does for somebody to grow it on Oahu, grow it in Brazil and fly it here. [Additionally], the average of our farmers is about 60 years old. Their sons and daughters are not going into farming. Yes, there’s some good organic farmers coming up, but to compete with Oahu is killing us. I’d love to see [community gardens] succeed and I will help them succeed as much as possible.
You’ve accepted campaign contributions from developers; your opponent hasn’t. Can you honestly tell voters that you’re as likely as your opponent to be independent and stand up to the development community?
Certainly. When you’re in politics you have to be able to eat the guy’s lunch and then vote against him. I have no problem with that; I’ve told them that. I said that what this does is get a candidate in there that will at least hear you, open the door. But [even] if you haven’t given me anything I’ll hear what you have to say. That’s the type of candidate I am; I’ll hear from anybody. My opponent is not. He will not hear from certain segments of the community.
Choose one: the environment or the economy?
The environment is the economy. If we don’t have a clean environment our economy’s going to go down. [But] they can live together. From when I got here 18 years ago to now there have been some drastic changes and those changes have to be mitigated. MTW
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