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Shift mindset to move Maui County forward

Every ecosystem has a built-in limit to it. While historically used as a biological model, the carrying capacity of a place generally speaks to the balance of resources and population. Sensitive as it is flexible, mutable as it is fixed — changes in a place’s socioeconomic and ecological status directly affects our communities. This means our population, agriculture, housing, income levels and much more all play an integral part in how well equipped Maui County is to thrive.

Till now, the best we have been able to do is survive. We can see this in relationship to our housing market. In 2018, the average sale of a home in Maui County is pushing $925K. With the average salary around $56,000 you can bet our local, working-class families are not the ones buying these homes. Yet how do we begin to balance the scale in accordance with our county’s carrying capacity.

Shifting our mindset to this perspective is the first, necessary step to moving Maui County forward. Until we view our communities as the dynamic systems that they are — interconnected and dependent upon each other — we will continue to treat societal symptoms while neglecting their source.

Michael Keolamau Tengan

Candidate for State Senate — District 7

Kula

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