It is time for Maui County to stand up for the people of Maui County who collect our trash, clean our hotel rooms, mow the grass in our parks, scan our purchases at the supermarket, cook our meals at restaurants and all others who take care of the routine, daily work needed in Maui County.

We can talk about housing our doctors, police officers, teachers and other professionals who need homes too, and developers with some support from government will build homes for them.

But when developers are asked to build homes for refuse collectors and blue-collar workers, most say they cannot because they cannot make a profit.

Few developers are committed to build housing units for those earning less than 80 percent of area median income or about $80,000 per year.

This is the classic situation when government needs to step in to assure that a public need — affordable homes in this case — is met for the common good of all.

As our political candidates for mayor and County Council seek our vote on Nov. 8th, I ask this question to them: Will you publicly commit to use the funds of Maui County and its excellent bond rating to build homes for the refuse collector, the hotel housekeeper, the parks caretaker, the supermarket cashier, the restaurant cook and all others who perform the common work needed to make life on Maui “no ka oi?”

And if yes, the second question is, how do you plan to build these homes?

Stan Franco

Haiku