West Maui’s two-term council member Paltin to defend seat

Incumbent faces opponent Justin Herrmann in the general election

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of a continuing series on Maui County Council races leading up to the Nov. 8 general election. Today's story focuses on the race for the West Maui residency seat. Stories on other candidates will be published in the coming days.

After working to pass an updated West Maui Community Plan as well as bans on styrofoam bodyboards and nonmineral sunscreen, Council Member Tamara Paltin is seeking reelection to a third term.

"I'm in it for the long haul if I can do the full 10 years," Paltin said, referring to the 10-year term limit for council seats. "With each year and each term, I learn more."

Paltin, who was first elected to the West Maui residency seat in 2018, is facing Justin Herrmann in the general election.

Herrmann, who is 37 and a bartender, did not respond to The Maui News' email and telephone request for an interview.

Paltin, who heads the council's Planning and Sustainable Land Use Committee, said she wants to see through the implementation of bills passed by the council to lower sales prices of affordable housing and give priority to longtime residents.

"We need to ensure that it works and that the administration is making great strides towards implementing it," she said.

She said she heard from someone who, after being selected in a lottery for a unit in an affordable housing project, hasn't been able to qualify for a loan because of rising interest rates and rising sales prices.

"Where did we go wrong?" Paltin said. "When interest rates rise, usually the prices are supposed to drop. If we're passing these affordable housing laws and affordable housing projects and people still can't get into them, then we need to go back and relook at things."

While an employee of a developer asked Paltin if she has ever voted in favor of an affordable housing project, she can name 10 or 12 such projects she voted to support. She said she didn't vote for one project because of the lack of water.

"There's always going to be not-in-my-backyard concerns, but the most important thing is -- is it the right place for development? Is it going to create irreparable harm?" she said. 

She said development in the Olowalu area and Launiupoko, where residents are already on water restrictions, "just doesn't make sense."

In the upcoming budget, Paltin said she hopes to find ways to use transient accommodations tax funds from visitor lodging fees to address overcrowded highways and heavily touristed areas, as well as to improve pedestrian access, develop more water sources and help people who are homeless. The council last year voted to create its own transient accommodations tax after the state Legislature took away the counties' share of the statewide TAT.

"It's to address and mitigate tourist impacts, perpetuate tourism in a way that makes it beautiful for everyone, safer for everyone," she said. "Who wants to go on a vacation and see people living in the bushes? It's a win-win."

Because money from the transient accommodations tax was put in the county general fund in the last budget cycle, it couldn't be transferred to some areas without negatively affecting the county's bond rating, Paltin said.

She said some of the money could be used for a managed retreat fund to make shoreline safety improvements. The council is currently considering a bill that would create such a fund.

"The majority of our hotels are on the shoreline," she said. One building at Kahana Sunset is "pretty much condemned, not safe for human habitation," she said.

"What if it turns into a big pile of rubble? That's not helping our tourism industry or our local people."

Paltin also wants to see the state look into the use of gray water and composting toilets.

"We have been hearing from our Upcountry farmers when they're put on drought restrictions, if it's a 30-day restriction, they might lose their crops," she said. "More gray water use, especially on agricultural land, may have the potential to save their crops."

Paltin said the use of composting toilets could be an alternative for Upcountry residents facing the prospect of paying tens of thousands of dollars to convert cesspools to septic systems.

"Then maybe we're not putting everyone out $30,000 to $50,000," she said.

She questioned why it was decided that Upcountry areas should be the first to convert. 

"It's counterintuitive that they would start with Upcountry when we have a lot of cesspools on the shoreline," she said.

On the council, Paltin said she has worked to close tax loopholes, including one for vacation rental properties that were paying lower owner/occupant rates and another that applied to properties including Oprah Winfrey's that were paying "much lower" bed and breakfast rates instead of short-term rental rates. 

"As I learn about the issues, I see things that I want to try and fix," she said.

Before she was elected to the council, Paltin worked as an ocean safety officer.

There was a full-circle moment for her when the West Maui Community Plan was passed out of the committee she heads in December, before going on to be approved by the full council this year.

Her participation in government was spurred over 15 years ago when a development of 40 luxury homes and a golf course was proposed overlooking Honolua Bay, leading to the creation of the grassroots Save Honolua Coalition and the eventual $20 million purchase of 280 acres for a state park.

"I'm really proud to be able to see the West Maui Community Plan through," Paltin said, noting it was the first time in over a quarter-century that the plan was updated to guide government action and decision-making in the region.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.