Maui County mayoral candidates tackled the complex affordable housing and homelessness problems — mostly with one-minute answers — at a forum Thursday night and offered up suggestions that included building on county land, curtailing illegal short-term rentals and putting up tiny homes.

Five of the seven candidates seeking to replace Mayor Alan Arakawa, who is term-limited, discussed their views before an audience of around 125 people at Valley Isle Fellowship Church in Wailuku. The forum was hosted and moderated by Faith Action for Community Equity, Maui a grass-roots, faith-based, nonprofit group that seeks to improve affordable housing availability for residents.

Attending the forum were current County Council Members Elle Cochran and Don Guzman and former Council Member Mike Victorino, the front-runners in the race. Other candidates present were Beau Hawkes and Laurent Zahnd. Ori Kopelman and Alec Hawley did not attend Thursday’s forum.

All seven candidates will be on the primary election ballot on Aug. 11, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election on Nov. 6.

One of the questions posed to the candidates asked about their plans to build 11,000 rental and for-sale homes for low and middle income residents that the state estimates will be needed by 2025.

Cochran, who holds the council’s West Maui residency seat, said she would not promise to embrace the state housing need projections, alluding to her prior comment in the forum about not wanting the county “building its way out” of a crisis in a irresponsible manner.

Instead, she said the county should build sustainably “to the true need” and keep prices “truly affordable.” She identified three county-owned parcels that immediately could be devoted to housing — a 4-acre parcel in Honokowai that is zoned residential; a 5.5 acre parcel in Wailea suited for studios and one-bedroom rentals and 50 lots in Maui Lani, where covenants, codes and restrictions could be changed to allow for more homes on the lots.

Guzman, who currently holds the council’s Kahului residency seat, said he would negotiate with private entities who would partner with the county to develop housing in exchange for tax credits.

He also would have a system in place to develop affordable housing, including a process to ensure the county follows federal Housing and Urban Development guidelines. He said the county could even change those guidelines to make it easier to get people into homes. Because financing might be an issue, Guzman suggested negotiating with a bank or credit company to help with financing for homeowners.

Hawkes, who made an unsuccessful run for mayor in 2014, said the homes can be built by 2025. As someone who has built homes himself, he said the county should purchase local materials and cut out the “development middleman,” saying that the more people involved in the building process, the higher the costs.

Victorino, who left the council due to term limits in 2016, said that while the suggestions from candidates sounded good, whether they are “doable . . . remains to be seen.”

His course of action includes trying to secure more control from the state over zoning changes, swapping land for housing and working with nonprofit home-building organizations, such as Lokahi Pacific and Habitat for Humanity.

Moderators raised the issue of the high cost of rentals in Maui County and asked what candidates would do to build more rental housing and make more units available for local residents.

Cochran said the county must enforce its laws against illegal short-term rentals, which cut into the number of long-term rentals for residents. Cochran said she was able to get $80,000 in the budget to have a third party identify illegal rentals on Maui. She said the county has been slow to sign a contract with the third party.

Enforcement of short-term rental rules will be a top priority for her as mayor, and she hopes to have illegal rentals flipped back into the long-term rental market.

Victorino agreed that enforcement needs to be done, but building more affordable rentals to keep up with demand also is required.

“We got to keep moving in those areas. We got to look at some nonprofits and utilize them,” he said. “All of these groups do a wonderful job. The government should be assisting them to continue to provide affordable rentals.”

Guzman agreed with Victorino, noting that enforcing rules against illegal rental owners is needed, but “it may just be a Band-Aid.” Simply enforcing rules would not guarantee that a significant number of illegal rentals would end up as long-term rentals for local families.

Rental prices are high because of supply and demand, he said. Rental units should be built with subsidies from the county or by having the county partner with private entities for tax credits.

Zahnd said his suggestion might not align with “the island spirit,” but he feels that offering $1,000 to those who report illegal rentals could help alleviate the problem and scare landlords into operating legally.

The “greedy guys got to feel the stress, not the poor families,” he said.

This high cost of rentals is driving many into homelessness, and the candidates were asked how they would alleviate that problem.

Victorino suggested a variety of options, including tiny homes, a village concept with low rents and social services, and a tent community. He would push for support for nonprofit groups assisting homeless people.

“We have to have a multiple approach to homelessness. It’s not a one size fits all,” he said.

Guzman applauded the county’s homeless division that was set up in 2017. The division uses the Housing First approach, which identifies homeless people and gets them into housing as soon as possible. He said he will continue to support the division if elected.

Cochran recalled that 10 years ago, the idea of tiny homes was already on Maui’s radar, and the concept needs to become reality today. She noted how quickly tiny homes on the Big Island were put up to help those who lost homes to the recent lava flow.

She also suggested using vacant office space to house people who are homeless.

“I want to have that zeal and zest for creating a roof over one’s head, which is sorely needed,” she said.

The face of homelessness is diverse, she noted. Proper funding needs to be available to those who are mentally ill. There are some homeless people who do not want assistance, she added.

“They cannot be a detriment to our community either,” Cochran added. “There is no one size fits all.”

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.