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Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 5 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following came from Nohe Uu-Hodgins, candidate for Maui County Council Makawao-Haiku-Paia District. Her opponent is Nara Boone.

Go to Civil Beat’s Elections Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.

1. Clearly, Maui County faces big issues related to the fires. What’s the primary thing Maui needs to do now to recover from the fires?

We need to work with home builders to create access to more housing, to provide our displaced residents with a place to continue to call home. Housing provides permanency and stability.

As a community with government assistance, we should prioritize physical and mental health. Collectively, we should work with disaster recovery and resiliency experts to establish safer communities to protect ourselves from another catastrophe.

Maui County cannot financially or demographically afford another large disaster.

2.  What should Maui do to encourage people to stay? What can the county do to ensure that families aren’t priced out?

Maui County should allow for the creation of homes that are financially within reach of our local community. We face a supply and demand issue, not just of the home itself but also the materials needed to build homes.

Considering that we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and construction is our second largest industry, we should focus on manufacturing construction materials to shorten the supply chain.

Most of us are familiar with the concept of “aging in place” — this is typically used in reference to our kupuna. However, I believe we need to adjust that paradigm and consider that for our young people as well. Let’s create a community in which we can all “age in place.”

Aging in place means one’s ability to live in one’s own home and community, safely, independently and comfortably as they age. As the mother of four young children, I hope we can provide the education, employment, home-buying opportunity, and community needed for all of us to thrive here, at home, in Maui County.

3. Do you support the new state law that allows counties to regulate and even shut down short-term rentals? Why or why not?

Yes, I appreciate county autonomy. Each of the counties that make up Hawaii is unique and should allow for county-specific laws created by the local government and its residents.

4. What’s your vision for Lahaina? How should it be rebuilt and who should decide?

My vision for Lahaina is a place for the Lahaina residents to call home again. The residents of Lahaina should feel safe and comfortable in her arms. How it should be rebuilt, besides incorporating modern building and fire codes to create a safer community, should be up to the people who call Lahaina home.

I might live in Makawao now, but Paia will always be my home. Paia and Lahaina share many similar qualities. My office and I have been working with MEMA, police, and the fire department to best ensure Paia’s safety.

Nonetheless, if Paia was to ever suffer a tragedy as the town of Lahaina has; I would hope that Maui County and its government would respect the residents of Paia to listen to their vision. I respect the people of Lahaina and understand that this is something I can do for them.

5. What should elected officials do to restore trust in county government?

Be open, be honest, listen and be good humans. We need better collaboration between local government, community and media.

Accountability, transparency, and rebuilding trust is everyone’s responsibility.

6. Do you think Maui County should do more to manage water resources? Why or why not?

Yes, we need to create more sources and provide better access while creating a system for recycled and gray water. For instance, Upcountry Maui has suffered through decades of annual droughts due to a severe lack of source and a reliance on a near-century-old system utilizing surface water.

Managing resources should also include providing more sources to the people who call Maui home, so that future generations can continue to do so.

7. What is the first thing Maui County should do to get in front of climate change rather than just reacting to it?

The first thing Maui County should do to get in front of climate change rather than just reacting to it, should be a realistic understanding of what climate change entails. It is more than just sea-level rise, it’s hotter temperatures, increased drought, severe storms, higher risk for wildfires.

We need to create resiliency in our communities which should include legislation, budget priorities, education and infrastructure changes.

8. Homelessness is becoming more of an issue on Maui. What do you think needs to be changed to help people get into housing, and stay housed?

Maui County should better partner with the state to provide more access to mental health, drug rehabilitation and education.

Understanding that there are various types and stages of being unsheltered, I hope we can improve access to low-income rentals to provide a sustainable inventory of attainable housing for those in transition.

9. Traffic is getting worse on Maui, and different regions face different challenges. What would be your approach to improve Maui’s transportation problems?

I have the honor of representing Makawao, Paia and Haiku. Both Makawao and Paia are older, historic towns that were designed for people to live, work, play and learn within a walkable distance. I hope that, as a county, we can go back to a neo business/county town model similar to Paia and Makawao. This would include allowing more mixed use, where we blend business, services and homes.

Also, we need to better modernize our existing infrastructure to accommodate the population now. In many towns, we still have the same roads and infrastructure we have had for years without adapting to the growing population. Furthermore, considering we need to create more homes to deal with the housing crisis we also need to anticipate the creation of the required roadways to permit safe travel.