First-time political candidate Buddy James Nobriga said he would bring “resourcefulness and creativeness” to the Kahului residency seat on the Maui County Council.

“I believe one of my strongest points is resourcefulness. I think it’s an underrated skill set for this particular position. Being resourceful and being able to manage resources is kind of the duty of the job,” he said.

The 36-year-old Nobriga added that as sales and marketing manager at his family-owned longtime business Maui Soda & Ice Works, he was able to bring “new perspectives to old situations that have made us quite successful.”

Incumbent Tasha Kama said she should be reelected as “I work well with the other eight members … try to bring win-win to their compromises.”

“I think what I bring to this council is the balance that they need. … We have people who are youthful, and they haven’t had I think the experiences that life brings. When you live a kind of long time you experience ups and downs and ins and outs, highs and lows,” she said. “It helps you understand what other people are going through also.”

She said she feels she brings to the council an even balance and attitude.

Nobriga and Kama were the top two vote-getters in a pool of seven in the primary election. Kama squeaked by with 8,991 votes compared to Nobriga’s 8,738, a difference of 253 votes. More than 15,000 votes were split between the other five candidates.

Nobriga said he looked at areas where he didn’t do well in the polls and tried to meet up with people in those districts.

He said he took advantage of community events that were opening up since COVID, including the Kihei 4th Friday Parties.

His campaign went to two of those Kihei events so he would be able to meet the most people in a short amount of time.

Kama said she “was grateful for all the people that ran, because they love this community as much as I do.”

She said she is even grateful to Nobriga for running, as he is young, and the county will need future leaders.

“It allows people like Buddy and others to be able to ramp up … to listen and learn,” she said

“I think for me those other votes that are out there, people are going to have to decide where their values are. If what my values are that I presented them, line up with their values or not,” she said.

TASHA KAMA

Kama says the barriers to affordable housing and getting people into homes “come down to the costs,” including land, infrastructure and building. If the county “did all of that” it should improve housing she said.

She pointed out to how the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands handles the infrastructure for its developments.

“All the developers have to do is build a house. The people either buy the house or build their own houses,” she said.

“I think the county should take a look, I know I am … to really put the infrastructure where it belongs, on the county’s shoulders, so the burden isn’t passed on to the new homeowner,” she said.

She also prefers homeownership over renting, because ownership gives equity assets that a family could use for their children’s college tuition or improve their homes in the future.

Kama also looks to the $600 million appropriation the state Legislature approved this year for DHHL for housing needs.

But rather than putting that money on DHHL lands, she advocates for the money to be used to purchase homes off the market and not on DHHL lands, at it may take years for DHHL to set up those projects.

“If you want to take names off that list, allow them to purchase a home on the open market,” she said.

Knowing she works on the county side and not on the state side, Kama said she would push for her ideas through homestead and beneficiary associations, which advocate on how the funds should be used.

For example, with the $600 million, 600 families or more could be helped quickly, Kama said, alluding to the high median price of homes at more than $1 million on Maui.

If reelected, Kama would still want to focus on homelessness.

“I still have a hard time sleeping at night knowing there are people that are not in warm beds or shelters, even without warm water, putting their kids to bed. It still troubles me,” she said.

As the county is working on allowing houseless people to sleep in their vehicles at a designated parking lot, Kama said she would like to do more and have houseless people sleep in pallet homes or tiny homes instead.

She said if people are left in their vehicles, it may become the norm for them and they might not want to transition to homes.

“We want shelter, inside bathrooms, showers, we want that to be the norm,” she added.

During this past year, Kama said one of the things that “warms my heart the most,” is the approval of funds for the Halau of ‘Oiwi Art Center proposed by the administration in Wailuku.

“The Halau of ‘Oiwi Arts is the real culture alive and well, and at its finest and at its best,” she said. “And we will show off to our community who we really are as a people and culture, as a race and I’m so pleased we were able to put the money aside for that and I’m praying and hoping that people in our community that are not Hawaiian, or not of Hawaiian blood will see that it’s something they could be proud of too.”

Some in the community were critical of the $43 million in general obligation bonds put forward for the project. But Kama said it was done to secure the funding the county will ask for from the federal government.

She said with the money set aside, the county will be able to go to the federal government for the balance of the funds and show them the county was making a “good faith effort.”

BUDDY NOBRIGA

Nobriga said that for every affordable housing development, he would like to see 10 percent of the homes be Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homes. This way it would help local families and also limits outside speculation, he said.

As for where the development would be, he said, “Our district that we live in (Kahului) is tough because, to me we are the most populated district of locals on island.”

“I worry about overdeveloping our district. Everyone is all for it because the infrastructure is there, the locals are there, but it’s about quality of life,” he said.

But he also sees a need for balance and having enough open space.

“I don’t think we have enough space in our district to keep going,” he said of more large-scale new housing developments in Kahului.

But he envisions using empty spaces at areas such as Kahului Shopping Center and Queen Ka’ahumanu Center for housing.

He said every district wants to avoid having too much development, but said another area for housing could be around the new Kulanihako’i High School in Kihei.

Nobriga would like the county to become more proactive in affordable housing.

“I feel like now, we kind of make the rules and see who will apply,” he said.

He envisions the county setting the stage for a planned development, and “putting it out to bid to see how we can get the best opportunities for our people.”

For example, the council and the administration could identify the lands, ensure the infrastructure is in place and also ensure there are no culturally sensitive area, then see who could bring the best project forward.

“That kind of stuff will be more in my wheelhouse of being proactive, in seeking versus waiting to see what others will come up with,” he said.

His other top issue if elected includes wellness.

While health care primarily rests with the state and federal government, Nobriga said the county and the state can work together to identify lands for clinics and facilities in general, noting it is important so there is “more than one place to depend on for health care.”

Also for overall wellness of the community, Nobriga said he would like more spaces that the community can use. For example, he hears about families waiting in line just to secure a community center for a child’s graduation party.

Other issues he would like to focus on include diversifying the economy by assisting local small businesses.

For example, he said there are lots of regulations covering products in grocery stores, and he would like to set a place where farmers can go to process their vegetables and fruits.

Nobriga would also like to have a program where farmers could get a voucher from the county to borrow equipment for their farms.

He said tractors and other equipment which may not be used regularly on certain farms are expensive to purchase. Having the county step in would be a “win-win” as the farmer would get assistance and the equipment rental company would also gain new business.

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