West Maui Budget Listening Session - April 18, 2026
West Maui Budget Listening Session - April 18, 2026
On April 18, 2026, the Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Councilmember Yukile Sugimura, held a listening session in West Maui to hear community input on the Mayor's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Councilmembers from across Maui County attended, and over 20 community members testified on priorities ranging from wildfire recovery and housing to transportation and public safety. No formal votes were taken; testimony will inform the committee's budget deliberations.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Alejandro Ayala praised the MEO paratransit service for changing her life but noted long wait times (sometimes 1–2 hours) and requested a local route to reduce travel time.
- Lynn Nishikawa (Aloha Amplified) requested $40,000 for the 2026 Lights for Lahaina event, a two-day healing experience on September 11–12, citing its positive mental health impact on survivors.
- Rhonda Alexander Moncres (Hoʻola LTRG) requested $500,000 for disaster case management, noting 245 families in care and 160 on a waitlist. She highlighted two homes completed and four underway.
- Kelly Gisel (Hoʻola LTRG) reported that 427 volunteers contributed over 27,000 hours in nine months, creating an estimated $850,000 economic impact, and asked for continued support.
- Brandi Khajadoy (Hoʻola LTRG) requested funding to address faulty contractors, describing cases where survivors were left with incomplete or dangerous homes. She said remediation costs range from $60,000 to $500,000 per household.
- Rick Nava (West Maui Taxpayers Association) opposed a $60 million budget increase, citing rising costs. He requested priority funding for traffic safety improvements on Kiawe Street, pedestrian crosswalks, bus shelters, and park upgrades at Kilauea or Malka Park. He urged using CDBG-DR funds instead of county general funds.
- Joseph Pluto (West Maui Taxpayers Association) emphasized health and safety, highlighted progress on a new fire station (estimated $4 million using modular construction), and called for permitting reforms and exemptions for urgent safety projects.
- Theo Morrison (Lahaina Restoration Foundation) supported the $9 million in the Office of Recovery budget for rebuilding the Lahaina Courthouse and old prison, noting the foundation has managed these historic sites for decades.
- Mitch Kingsley (Mennonite Disaster Service) explained that their volunteer work depends on four pillars: accommodations, volunteers, meaningful work, and material funding. He emphasized that county funding for case management and materials is critical to their ability to stay in Lahaina.
- Alexandria Domingo (reading a parent's letter) expressed appreciation for MEO Head Start full-day, full-year services and urged continued funding.
- Michelle Lincoln (fire survivor) requested budget recognition for park parcels from the Kahoma Village mediation, and asked for reclaimed water to be extended to Bishop Estate for fire prevention and agriculture.
- Bij Yadow (Hoʻola LTRG) thanked Hoʻola and partners for helping his family rebuild and urged continued support.
- Lionel Pasqual (fire survivor) described being in a “missing loop”—ineligible for FEMA and low-income assistance after exhausting insurance loss-of-use funds. He requested rental assistance for middle-income survivors.
- Wilmot Kahali (Aloha Amplified) shared the origin of Lights for Lahaina and requested a specific budget allocation for mental health and wellness, noting the community’s ongoing trauma.
- Kanani Higby (fire survivor) argued that mental health funding is less urgent than housing and missing persons investigations. She asked the council to support state bills (HB 2049 and SB 3028) for Hawaiian home infrastructure and called for more action on her missing brother.
- Mikey Burke (Lahaina Community Land Trust) requested restoration of $6 million in unrestricted funding initially proposed by the mayor (later reduced) and retention of $2.4 million for vertical construction. She said 10 ʻohana (1,600 lived years) have been kept in Lahaina, and 20 properties are secured. She warned of a narrow 2–3 year window to buy land before settlement checks drive sales.
- Jay Kamiki Carter (Hoʻola DCM) shared a kupuna’s story of receiving case management support and asked for continued funding.
- Steve Fisher (fire zone resident) proposed planting pencil cactus (fire-resistant) for fire prevention and requested speed bumps on Fleming Road to address dangerous speeding.
- Carolyn Alve Loa (Lahaina Community Land Trust) thanked the council for previous trust and funding ($3.5 million for an insurance gap program), reported 10 families helped and three foreclosures disrupted, and urged restoring the $6 million. She also raised concerns about an unsafe retaining wall behind a home and called for stronger enforcement by the Department of Planning (4Leaf).
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken at this listening session.
- Councilmember Tamara Paulton will report the testimony received to the committee at its next meeting on April 19 or 20, 2026.
- Several councilmembers committed to following up on specific requests: rental assistance for Lionel Pasqual, speed bumps on Fleming Road (in coordination with Roland Tanner and the Department of Public Works), and the Kahoma Village park parcels (via budget amendment).
- The committee will consider testimony when reviewing the Mayor's proposed budget, including possible amendments to restore funding for the Lahaina Community Land Trust ($6 million) and to address the “missing loop” for rental assistance.
Meeting Transcript
Aloha, everybody, and thank you very much for attending tonight's budget finance economic development committee. Um this is our listening session because we have all organized bring really the council members to your community community so we could hear about the things you would like to share to tell us what's happening in your community, what you may need funding for and what you think the county or how the county can help you better. We also like to hear of programs that are working, and that if you could share those accomplishments and successes also, we appreciate that. My name is Councilmember Yukile Sugimura. I'm the chair of this committee, and I'm gonna turn the mic over to Tamara Paulton, who is your council member, and she can introduce the rest of the gang. Aloha Maika. To the north, we have Councilmember Shane Sinansi all the way from East Maui. And to his left, we have Councilmember Keani Rollins Fernandez, all the way from Molokai Nuya Hina. And to her immediate left, we have the new guy, Kawanoe Batangan from Kahului. And you guys all met um budget chair Yikile Sugimura. She hails from upcountry, Jaccaran the country. To my immediate left, we have Councilmember Tom Cook from South Maui. And to his immediate left, we have Chair Lee of Wailuku. Sending their regrets tonight is Councilmember Nohe Uuhajans of Paya Makawao Haiku and Councilmember Gabe Johnson of Lanai. They said they will be watching as this is streamed live on Akaku. And I also wanted to let you folks know that my staff put together a little um cheat sheet of the mayor's proposed budget items for West Maui, and it's over there by staff. If you guys um haven't had a chance to read the hundreds and hundreds of pages in the budget, um my staff pulled together some of the items that were um did allocated for West Maui, and you can take a look at that as well. Um as she said, I'm I'm council member tomorrow palton. My husband made food for all of you just in case somebody had to come from work and they're so hungry we didn't want anyone to pass out. So um made with love from Chef George. Thank you. We always uh appreciate the Paulton George Vieira touch. Um I wanted to also thank staff. So any of you who would like to please sign up there, we'll be taking you in the order that you've signed up at that table. And um I'd like to also recognize that we have our Office of Council Services staff taking notes and minutes so that tomorrow or Monday at our next meeting, um, Member Paulton will be reporting on what you said and and what the community has shared with us tonight. We have I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce our staff. We have tonight um from the West Maui residency area office. We have Christian Balagso, um soccer coach from Akaku, we have Mr. Vinny. Our um clerk for this evening, we have Le Denine in the green moon. To her immediate right, we have Yvette Boutelier. To her immediate right, we have um Office of Council Services, head honcho supervisor David Roth. We have our council ambassador in the red, Ryan Martins, and our legislative attorney, Carla Nakata. And we also have um Cherry's grandson Riley Ambrose in the back. Member Rollins Fernandez, EA Mahealani Bright Wilhelm. And umclear may have stepped out, but um Member Sinansi's aide, Uncle Don is also here. Did I miss you? Yeah, he was. Oh, oh, an Axel Axel. Member Johnson was able to send his staff axle, so he'll be diligently taking notes as well. Thank you, Member Paulton. Um so we have one item on our agenda, which is BFED 1, which is the mayor's proposed budget. So all of you can speak about anything, all the any of the departments that are whatever's in the mayor's budget, and you'll have three minutes to speak. And if you're not done, you'll be given another 30 seconds to complete your testimony. After that, members may have questions for you, so stand by a little bit before you walk away. They may have questions. And um, I want you to know this is very important for us, and this is the last residency area that we are um doing this because we've gone through the whole save the best for last. And um, and um we've gone through Molokai Lanai everywhere, so this is the last residency area. We appreciate you a lot, and so at this time I'd like to call the first testifier, please. Thank you, Chair.
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