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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 Lorien Acquintas, candidate for Maui County Council West Maui District. His opponent is Tamara Paltin.

Go to Civil Beat’s Election 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?

The county needs to expedite all permits on building. This is currently being done for Lahaina, but we need to see it carried out islandwide. Residents are beyond frustrated with the length of the permitting process and it’s leading to families moving off island.

How can we keep our culture intact without the people that built the culture up in the first place? In addition to expediting the permit process, we need to implement a massive recruiting and hiring strategy across Maui, and then statewide to fill these new positions. In the interim, we could bring in more immediate help from another island. We currently have around six employees from Oahu, which is a great example of interisland collaboration.

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

We must have quality jobs and affordable housing in order to keep locals in Maui. With housing, we see lots of empty land around the island, but none of it is being used to develop more affordable housing. We should take a look at possibly rezoning some of the 235,280 acres of Agricultural land we currently have.

When projects do get approved, they often fight decades for permits and pass through numerous mayors and Ccouncils. We need to put an end to this if we want to preserve our local community. There have been several successful projects geared toward locals which are income and lottery based.

Maui County should be approving projects such as these regularly and people would stay if they had something to hope for.

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

I support the state decision to place power into the control of the individual counties. However, I disagree with the mayor’s proposal to phase out the Minatoya List by 2026.

A healthy phase-out would have to happen over many years in order to ensure we don’t create a domino effect of economic downfall and instability within our community. Here on Maui, our county relies heavily on the tax dollars collected from short-term rentals. Real property tax revenue generates close to half of the county budget. Of that budget, 42% of revenue comes from short-term rentals. No one has produced a solution yet as to how we are going to replace tax revenue that will be lost by shutting them down.

Many locals are provided with jobs due to these rentals. There are also locals that live here and own short-term rentals. It’s not only mainland investors that own these properties. We need to find a middle ground on this topic. It is not black and white.

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

My vision for Lahaina is to honor the original look while placing public safety at the forefront. It’s important that the Lahaina rebuild include an additional fire station, which will provide jobs and community security. We should do our due diligence in making sure Maui trade workers are the ones involved in the rebuild process from start to finish and we shouldn’t be outsourcing those jobs at all if possible. This is why I am an advocate for promoting more vocational programs on island.

The rebuild of Lahaina Town will be comprehensive and require the involvement of many parties. The county, the community, the property owners, businesses and historic organizations that are from or live in Lahaina should all have a voice.

I am one of these people. Before the fire I owned two businesses on Front Street and Prison Street that fostered responsible tourism while teaching Hawaiian protocol and safety through education and action. We proudly kept our block safe and the Lahaina spirit alive. I want to ensure the spirit is not lost.

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

This is a major point of concern and one of the gaps I intend to bridge once elected. The county must provide more open communication through regularly scheduled town halls. They need to utilize local media in order to get the word out.

Accountability. Integrity. Honesty. Transparency. These are all crucial in restoring trust within our community. If officials were out in the public as much as they are during their campaigns, then this would not be an issue at all. If elected, I will continue the public visibility that I have always had.

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

Yes, I believe Maui County should do more to manage water resources because the island is enduring conditions of rapid desertification as a result of its longstanding prior and current mismanagement. Invasive species overgrowth and the diminishing vitality of our coral reefs could be prevented if more fresh water were restored to their natural waterways.

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 can do is to establish itself as a county that is proactive versus reactive. After what we experienced in Lahaina, we now have an opportunity to set things right. We must immediately assess and implement fire safety and mitigation plans and explore options to put the power lines underground. These safeties are crucial to our survival here on Maui. In addition, a majority of the ecological issues attributed to climate change that we are seeing here on Maui can begin to be reversed with the restoration of streamflow.

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?

Homelessness is understandably increasing since the fires. We need to give it immediate attention and sympathy. As stated above, the county needs to focus on approving affordable housing projects for locals. Moreover, Maui sadly lacks resources for the different stages of homelessness. Our county should utilize federal, state and county funds to invest in residential and outpatient programs for mental health, addiction and transitioning from homelessness back into the community.

I am a big advocate of vocational training schools and I believe Maui County could greatly benefit from providing more vocational programs for our youth. If our youth have trained skills and the ability to provide for their families, they will be less inclined to fall victim to some of the contributors of houselessness.

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

The issue of traffic is extremely important as it ties directly into public safety for our locals and visitors alike. We know all too well how a road closure in one region of the island can start to impact other regions quickly. Our infrastructure is not on par with population and visitor growth. Increased and improved public transit is a must.

As I sit in traffic every day coming in and out of the West Side, I am reminded of the horrors we faced on Aug. 8 and I shudder to think that we are now more vulnerable than ever with all of the roadwork and road closures. With the imminent rebuild of Lahaina looming over us, the issue of west side traffic must be addressed immediately as it will impact all of Maui.

All solutions should be on the table for community discussion including but not limited to road widening, a tunnel, ferry services and a bypass extension. Here again, funds from the federal and state government should be marshalled.