The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

WAILUKU — The first of what is envisioned to be a series of public meetings to discuss priorities and necessary steps to rebuild Lahaina was on the agenda of the Maui County Council on Tuesday, Aug. 22nd (Resolution 23-194). The meeting was chaired by Alice Lee and prefaced by remarks from Lahaina member Tamara Paltin. It drew a sizable and diverse group who testified both in person and remotely about the impact of lethal wildfires which swept Lahaina, portions of Upcountry Maui and Kihei beginning on August 8th. Those who attended shared their experiences on the aftermath and their views on how and when rebuilding should proceed.

No matter which part of the disaster was the focus of the individual testimony, the meeting was characterized by deeply felt emotion, an overwhelming sense of loss and desire to work with sensitivity and respect toward a common goal.

If there was an overriding theme, it was testimony urging the council to let the people of Lahaina have a significant role in planning and to have them take the lead on what the future might hold, including meaningful participation in developing and carrying out reconstruction plans.

Multiple speakers expressed fears that FEMA aid and those directing it would divert dollars slated for Maui (with estimates as high as $5 billion) away from local contractors, to large Mainland construction companies. This, they felt, was baked into the FEMA system and would do little in the long term to benefit Maui’s economy, businesses and people. Like the desire for local input in the planning process, the desire to ensure that local builders and construction workers get a fair share of massive federal money was widely voiced, and Maui was urged to apply for the funds rapidly.

Given the seriousness of recent events, the tragic losses, the many frustrations, delays and miscommunications, the overall tone was remarkably even and restrained, as speaker after speaker came forward to plead for a combination of urgency, involvement and grassroots participation.

Perhaps the most dramatic remarks were given remotely by Paul Cheng, Texas-based developer of Pulelehua, a West Side master planned community, which has already broken ground on what was expected to be about 100 units of affordable homes within a larger development projected at about 800 units. Many of the homes would be at market price and were slated to be built at a later date.

“Now is not the time to talk about money,” Cheng said. “Now is the time to talk about housing.” Cheng’s remarks stressed his willingness to convert the entire subdivision to affordable homes, to begin immediately and to offer an interim site for temporary educational facilities to replace those damaged by the fire.

In response to a timeline question from Council Member Tasha Kama, he replied he thought that with cooperation from the various county authorities he could begin to deliver units within “15 to 16 months.”

Cheng expressed his willingness to tailor the housing to the immediate needs of the situation, be it fee simple or rental, and to make major modifications to the original plan to increase the number of projected units in the affordable category. In exchange, he asked for a sense of urgency from county officials asking them to review plans and send inspectors in an expedited fashion so work could move ahead rapidly.

Michael Shiffler, director of Operations for Red Lightning, Disaster Aid Services, of Mesa, AZ (https://www.red-lightning.com/), testified on the communications nightmare area residents and visitors encountered following the fires when all phone and internet service was down, and there was no way to communicate with each other or the outside world. Shiffler and his team moved rapidly to provide the first of what were to become multiple Starlink units, allowing users to receive signals from space to operate communication devices without wires or cables. The technology developed and leased by SpaceX is suited for areas where connectivity is a challenge.

His testimony also highlighted a frequent refrain during the morning when he observed that though he was able to rapidly obtain the communication devices, his attempt to deliver them to West Siders proved frustrating when he was turned back at checkpoints because his organization was not on the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) approved list.

Shiffler was not the only one to observe that the relief efforts organized by the community ran into obstacles and obstructions that occurred when the county, state and federal agencies and national non-profits took over operations and interfered with relief efforts that came from local first responders who were on site and organized rapidly to get needed aid to West Maui.

Shiffler and his team got praise and multiple thumbs up from others who offered testimony, including Lahaina resident Leonard Junyah Nakoa, who urged listeners to put their faith in “Red Lightning not the Red Cross.”

All this and so much more came tumbling out:

• The need to rescue animals abandoned in the burn zone;

• The need to set up safe space for children whose schools and teachers has been burned out;

• The fear that the governor’s and mayor’s emergency decrees stripped away too many basic rights and left too few people in decision making roles and needed to be modified and portions rescinded immediately;

• The plight of renters facing eviction with housing becoming even scarcer and more expensive;

• The need to stockpile supplies and equipment in resilience hubs to be ready for future disasters;

• The need to expedite the process for unemployment insurance and rapidly get money to those who have lost their jobs;

• Concern that workers in the devastation zone have suitable protective gear and not be unnecessarily exposed to toxic waste generated by the fires;

• The need for caution and restraint in dealing with the concerns of those who are still grieving and need more time to process recent events;

• The need for council members and their staff to “get out of the office and into the field” to really grasp the hardships that those affected were facing. Or as Fire Battalion Commander Kaulana Kino, testifying as an individual, told council members, “They need you now more than ever before.”

The plight of one particular aspect of Maui’s small business community during the disaster was illustrated by Bill 80 (2023), also on the day’s agenda, which would allow the operation of a small scale commercial wedding and special events facility in Makena by Carolee Higashino, the owner and operator of A White Orchid Wedding, a longtime Wailuku small business.

This measure drew widespread support from others in the small business community whose testimony pointed out how many jobs were generated by this industry, including photographers, florists, dressmakers, make-up artists, ballrooms and food services, all of whom were impacted when weddings were canceled, postponed or moved to another island because so many of the places to hold them on Maui had been damaged or destroyed.

Although muted, there was more than enough criticism to go around, but there was also praise:

• For the leadership of Lahaina Council Member Paltin and her team “No Sleep,” who worked round the clock to bring in supplies and restore communications;

• For Maui’s neighbors from Molokai who brought in supplies by the boatload before the authorities had even begun to respond;

• For Kihei Ice, which somehow managed to get past the checkpoints and barricades with their precious frozen cargo;

• To the council itself for hosting a forum that would begin the dialog leading to rebuilding

These and others were recognized and appreciated by those who testified.

According to Council Chair Lee, the information gathered at Tuesday’s meeting will be forwarded to the Government, Relations, Ethics, and Transparency Committee (GREAT) chaired by Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins. Discussion will resume in that committee later this month.