Just about everyone has been saying the Maui County mayoral race is about the economy - and the two candidates, former Mayor Alan Arakawa and current Mayor Charmaine Tavares - were given a chance Friday night to discuss how they plan to create jobs, streamline government and improve lives.
Representatives of the county's tourism, construction, real estate and business organizations hosted one of several debates between the old political foes live on Akaku: Maui Community Television. The debate will be rebroadcast several times prior to the Nov. 2 general election.
Both candidates promised to leave taxes alone or cut them, speed up building permits and do more to accommodate small businesses, particularly those in residential areas.
Article Photos
ALAN ARAKAWA
In closing, Arakawa said that major needs, such as assisting businesses, building homes and developing water sources, are not being met.
While promising not to expand government, they both pledged to do more with it.
They did separate themselves, though, like when the two former Maui County Council members were allowed the opportunity to ask each other questions.
Tavares asked why Arakawa sided with the Sand Hills developers rather than the Palama Street residents in Kahului in a dispute over fill and the height of neighboring properties.
Second Circuit Judge Joel August ruled in January 2009 that Arakawa exceeded his authority when he exempted developers from a 1991 building height ordinance, allowing projects to proceed under the law that existed before 1991 and measured height from the finished grade. The current law limits residential building heights to 30 feet above the natural or finished grade, whichever is lower.
"It was a choice that was a lose-lose no matter what we did," Arakawa said.
But he said he apologized "because we weren't there in 1991 to enforce when it should have been," he said of when the original decision was made not to enforce the law.
Tavares said there was time to remove the fill, but Arakawa's decision to turn his back was proof that he "just didn't care for our residents."
When he had his opportunity to ask Tavares a question, Arakawa accused her of not having an open government, of ignoring people she doesn't want to see or hear from.
Tavares said she talks to people all the time on the street and has a system in place to address concerns. For instance, she said that the "Buy Local" agricultural program came from someone she just ran into.
At the outset, Tavares said she believes that she has the right skills and experience to get residents through "these tough economic times," which she said are already starting to brighten.
"I believe that we've laid a great foundation for the future," Tavares said.
And the incumbent said she would like an opportunity to continue what she's started.
Arakawa, who Tavares narrowly defeated to become mayor in 2006, said he has yet to see a firm business plan for what Tavares intends to do to get Maui County out of its current economic downturn and allow residents to keep their homes and jobs.
He said he is going to make sure that "everybody has a say in what we intend to do for the future."
Arakawa later said the county needs to do more to assist nonprofit groups to repair and renovate foreclosed homes and get people into them. Construction of developments has also slowed to nearly a standstill since he was in office, a fact he'd change, he said, without much elaboration.
Arakawa also said the county needs to help the business community by investing in or getting back events, such as Halloween in Lahaina.
"There's so much contained in all that I hardly know where to start," Tavares deadpanned after Arakawa's opening remarks.
She said her administration has asked the County Council to expand the nonprofit Na Hale O Maui program, which renovates foreclosed homes to make affordable housing available, but council members have not acted yet on those requests.
"The elephant in the room is the banks and financial institutions," Tavares said. "People want homes: But if they can't get financing, they can't get those homes."
Questions were posed during the forum by Autumn Arase of the Maui Contractors Association; Pamela Tumpap of the Maui Chamber of Commerce; and Carol Reimann of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association. Dave DeLeon of the Realtors Association of Maui moderated the event.
"I believe that the mayoral race four years ago was really a popularity contest," Arakawa said when asked by DeLeon why he lost the last race.
He said he did a poor job of publicizing all the good that they'd done. Members of his administration were busy working and had their heads down, Arakawa said.
Arase said that Arakawa has pledged to shorten the permitting process down to 30 days. But she noted that during his administration it took months to get a building permit, so why would it change if he were given another chance?
He said that in his new administration he would divide projects into small and large ones to help set priorities. The Tavares administration is also spending too much time reviewing and re-reviewing applications, he said.
Tavares said her administration already is dividing out the simple from the complex projects. She also said her administration is updating the county building code.
"There's always room for improvement," she said.
She added that when she took office - after Arakawa's term - the department that reviewed building permits was 50 percent understaffed.
When it came to the question of home businesses, Tavares said her inspectors have not issued any violations. Warnings have been issued because residents complained.
Arakawa said he hears different from residents. Inspectors are threatening people, he said.
"What we're doing we need to do in a friendly way, not an adversarial way," he said.
When it came to the question of a lack of available water for families to build on homesteads, Tavares said it's a process her administration is continuing to pursue. But it was an issue that the Arakawa administration didn't prioritize.
Arakawa asked: "Why are we saying that there's no water? . . . It's the mismanagement of the water system that's the problem."
He, for instance, said he pursued purchasing the Wailuku Water Co., and Tavares did not follow through.
When it came to Tavares' crackdown on illegal transient vacation rentals, which resulted in an estimated 800 closures of the rental properties in residential areas, she said that she was not only obeying the law but also the County Council. It twice voted for the law to be enforced.
"What people don't say is 'Thank you, you saved my neighborhood,' " Tavares said, noting that a poll stated that almost 80 percent of residents wanted illegal vacation rentals handled by the government.
Arakawa accused Tavares of promising not to enforce the law and then leaving the vacation rental owners out in the cold.
Tavares said she never made such a compact.
In closing, Arakawa said that major needs, such as assisting businesses, building homes and developing water sources, are not being met.
Tavares said she is relishing more opportunities to debate Arakawa in the coming weeks. She said the candidates just scratched the surface Friday.
"If you're not convinced (on whom to vote for), watch the forums," Tavares said in closing.
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
