Kalo farmer Bobby Pahia stands in a field of his dryland taro in Waikapu in 2019. Matthew Thayer/The Maui News

Taro farmer Bobby Pahia decided to run for the Upcountry seat on the Maui County Council because he wants to reduce the high cost of food and the lack of affordable housing.

“We’ve got to put our people and community ahead of everything,” said Pahia, a 70-year-old Kula resident and retired research technician at the Maui Agricultural Research Center.

During his time at the center, Pahia helped with a number of scientific projects, including helping scientists led by John Cho grow a hybrid taro plant that was resistant to a crippling disease. The plant is now used by farmers statewide.

Pahia, who sits on the East Maui Regional Community Board and farms 300 acres at Hawaii Taro Farm in Waikapu, said he wants to see more transparency and collaboration among the county, state land board, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, community and major private land owners to improve water management on Maui.

He’s also critical of major landowners who spray pesticides near residential neighborhoods and said he wants the minimum distance increased to half a mile.

He’s grateful Maui voters established a Department of Agriculture and wants to see more slaughter houses and commercial kitchens opened to reduce the cost of food and improve business opportunities to create value-added products. He said the shortage of slaughter houses is creating a “bottleneck.”

Pahia said the county needs to increase the amount of food Maui produces in the event there is a disruption in importing goods.

“It’s not a matter of if. It’s when,” he said.

Pahia also supports Bill 9, which will phase thousands of short-term rentals out of Maui’s apartment districts over the next three to five years in hopes of creating more housing options for residents. Pahia said the bill discourages foreign investment and speculation.

“I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

Pahia also talked about how the current housing market has led to many residents and workers having to leave Maui. He referenced a recent study that found the average resident could afford a $450,000 home, but the average single-family home on Maui sells for more than $1 million. He said the housing market is not addressing the demand for housing from Maui residents.

“Our local people are left out in the dark,” he said. “Our wages don’t match the cost of living in Hawaii.”

Pahia, who moved to Maui in 1980, was raised in Windward Oahu in his youth. Growing up in a diverse community, Pahia said he believes in being inclusive in decision-making and developing a “collective voice.”

If elected, Pahia would fill the seat currently occupied by Maui County Council vice chair Yuki Lei Sugimura, who is running for Maui County mayor.

When Pahia announced his candidacy on Jan. 21, he was joined by family, friends and Maui County Council members Keani Rawlins-Fernandez and Gabe Johnson.

Johnson, a farmer himself on Lanai, said he appreciates Pahia’s leadership in the community and his donations of taro to nonprofit events.

“It would be great to have another farmer on the council,” Johnson said.

Candidates may pick up nomination papers starting Feb. 2, with the filing deadline at 4:30 p.m. June 2. The primary election will be Aug. 8 and the general election will be Nov. 3.