Maui's mayor pledges to return residents home

Mar. 16—Maui Mayor Richard Bissen made his second State of the County address since the Aug. 8 wildfires Friday night and said, "I am here to report that the state of our county is heartbroken."

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen made his second State of the County address since the Aug. 8 wildfires Friday night and said, "I am here to report that the state of our county is heartbroken."

"We are heartbroken by the loss of 101 of our beloved ohana and the two who remain unaccounted for, " Bissen told an audience at the Maui Arts &Cultural Center's Castle Theater. "We honor them tonight and continue to offer our prayers for comfort and peace to their loved ones."

Some 14 "talk story " sessions with 280 survivors told stories that "are raw, emotional, and exemplify the trauma that survivors are working through as well as the hardship and reality they continue to experience, " Bissen said.

"We will do everything within our power to return our residents to their homes in Lahaina and Kula, " he said. "We will not stop working until each and every survivor is returned to a place they can call home. This is my personal commitment to you."

He also pointed to county employees who continued working throughout the tragedy as their homes burned or even as they lost loved ones.

While Bissen focused on efforts to help survivors of the fires, he also emphasized the work of other evacuees who work for the county.

Some 76 county employees lost their homes, and "in an instant they became both survivors and emergency response workers, " Bissen said. "They continued to work to support the county's operations and recovery efforts, even as they faced the uncertainties and struggles that all survivors have contended with. They are in all ranks of our police force and our firefighters ; among our parks, public works and planning departments. They are employees of our Department of Water Supply and even in our Emergency Management Agency."

Police officer Kameryn Pupunu lost four family members, Bissen said.

But Pupunu and fellow officer Calvin Dawn "saved 15 people trapped in a coffee shop during the wildfire, " Bissen said. And firefighter Tanner Mosher cleared an escape path and retrieved a vehicle, "rescuing seven of his fellow firefighters. The actions they took that day were selfless, as they put themselves in harm's way to secure the safety of others."

"The acts of courage of these three brave men and of many other individuals whose actions that day preserved the lives of many of our people, " Bissen said.

Without specifying them by name, Bissen also said some of the six members of his advisory committee suffered loss—"one who lost a family member, three of them have lost homes."

Bissen thanked the support that poured in from county, state and federal agencies.

"In the first hours, when the magnitude of the disaster was still unfolding, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued and recovered many people from the ocean, " Bissen said. "Despite vessels exploding in the water, thick and toxic smoke choking the air, the Coast Guard relentlessly searched the offshore waters for any survivors. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Coast Guard personnel and to all first responders who put their lives on the line to save others.

"Others who came to our aid included teams from California's Santa Rosa, Sonoma and town of Paradise, along with Colorado, who themselves all survived devastating wildfires. Members of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire, deployed 67 personnel to support incident command needs. And the use of specialized search teams sent by five other states, averaging 95 members per team, and a total of 46 search dogs that were crucial in searching for missing loved ones."

Bissen then turned to the ongoing efforts to get residents back into Lahaina, create more affordable housing, protect renters from increasing rents and clamp down on short-term vacation rentals.

Since Aug. 8, Bissen said : "29 weeks have passed since the Maui wildfires. ... We know that the vast majority of Lahaina survivors desire to remain in West Maui in interim housing while we rebuild Lahaina. ... Housing remains at the forefront of our efforts, and we cannot look away from the glaring reality that losing even one more family is one too many.

"To date, the county has invested $8 million to support interim and permanent housing programs, " Bissen said. "On March 25 I will deliver the fiscal year 2025 budget to the Council, requesting $75 million to provide housing and other prioritized needs for wildfire survivors."

Short-term rental units, Bissen said, "will be undergoing a policy and legal review from my corporation counsel as we seek more options through our island's existing inventory of housing."

"Rental increases, especially for people renting on a month-to-month basis, have risen extremely and dramatically, " Bissen said. "This, in turn, has caused many local families to leave the island. The situation has grown even more dire since the August wildfires."

Bissen plans to submit legislation to the County Council "to implement rent stabilization procedures that will address escalating rent costs in Maui County. My proposal is intended to bring relief to thousands of our residents who face growing insecurity of having a roof over their head for themselves and their families, and to help bring stability to our community's great need for housing while fairly balancing the needs of rental property owners."

He's also directed his administration to work on accessory dwelling units "and to urgently prepare for both interim and long-term housing development."

Earlier Friday, the Maui County Office of Recovery announced that 306 properties have been cleared of debris, representing almost 20 % of all properties.

The Environmental Protection Agency has used camera drones to inspect 97, 749 linear feet of sewer line—and 8, 178 feet need "critical repairs and restoration."

The EPA, state Department of Health and Maui Department of Water Supply are also sampling areas with water pressure to determine whether any water or lateral lines were contaminated during the fire, according to the county.