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Fifteen months ago, Maui’s economic crown jewel, the Lahaina historic district, the island’s single most important tourist draw, suffered catastrophic damage in a fire.

Fortunately, some of its historic structures and sites were unhurt. As architectural experts quickly noted, even some heavily damaged structures were found to be salvageable. Given the right support and encouragement, much of the historic district could be restored and revitalized.

There is even a new opportunity to recreate the spectacular lagoon compound in Lahaina that once housed Hawaii’s royal family. Lahaina could reemerge as a cultural gem.

This all should have spurred quick and responsive action by the Maui Cultural Resources Commission, the federally certified government agency responsible for overseeing the island’s historic landmarks. Its job is to serve in an advisory role on all matters concerning historic conservation and to help funnel federal dollars to worthy preservation projects. After the disaster, it should have been all hands on deck.

Instead, however, the nine-member commission has almost completely shut down. It has only met once since July 2023.

Maui government officials have , one after the other.

On Aug. 23, 2023, two weeks after the fire, county planning director Kathleen Ross Aoki informed the commissioners that the regular meeting was canceled “due to the lack of items for the Commission to review.” She told them the same thing when she canceled the meeting on Sept. 7. 

The commission got together only once, in November of 2023, one year ago. In the months after that, from December through last month, planning department officials have blamed the cancelations on “lack of quorum,” which means not having enough commissioners present to conduct a meeting.

People who love Maui’s history are calling this dereliction of duty shocking and outrageous, particularly considering the seriousness of the preservation questions facing the island and the ways the commission’s inaction blocks other work from getting done. The Lahaina Restoration Foundation, for example, wants to push ahead with its plans to restore historic buildings in Lahaina and will need government review to proceed.

“It’s just not right,” said Elle Cochran, a Hawaii state lawmaker and preservation advocate who represents Lahaina. “If I was on the Maui County Cultural Resource Commission I’d be adamant about it, and adamant about holding meetings. … Clearly desecration is happening, and where is everybody?”

Dorothy Pyle, a Maui-based historic preservation expert who formerly worked in the Hawaii State Historic Preservation office and who served for five years as chair of the Maui commission, said she thinks Maui County is abdicating its responsibility to care for its historic places.

“It’s disheartening,” she said. “Maui County has not upheld its role in keeping Lahaina the historic place it should be. It’s unfortunate.”

If the failure to meet is a bureaucratic glitch, it should be fixed as soon as possible, she said.

The torpor on the county level comes amid widespread concern about project-review backlogs on the state level, at the State Historic Preservation Division.

Maui observers blame the commission shutdown on a combination of causes — government inertia, political infighting, cronyism and legitimate difficulty finding qualified candidates to serve as volunteers, willing to work for free on public commissions, doing onerous and controversial work in the public interest.

Questions posed to Maui officials by Civil Beat this week about why the commission has gone dark went unanswered.

But news coverage by Civil Beat in the past year has chronicled protracted bureaucratic infighting between Mayor Richard Bissen and the Maui County Council over Bissen’s nominations to boards and commissions, which resulted in a months-long shutdown in the appointment process. It has affected many county boards and commissions, not just the Cultural Resources Commission.

The historic preservation board’s current commissioners include Kahulu Maluo-Pearson, Kapono Kamaunu, Theodore Awana Jr., Andree-Michelle Conley-Kapoi and Keeamoku Kapu, according to the commission’s website. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday. The agenda includes introducing a new commissioner, Hinano Rodrigues, and reviewing four development plans in historic areas including two in Lahaina. Earlier this week, Rodrigues was named by Gov. Josh Green to the state Commission on Water Resource Management.

Meetings need five commissioners present to go forward. By law, the historic preservation commission is required to have some members who have specialized architectural or historic resource training.

It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that regardless of what high-ranking Maui officials may say about valuing the island’s cultural legacy, they do not appear to view the restoration of Lahaina’s historic district as a priority.

In addition, some people named to the board in the past haven’t been fully committed to attending meetings regularly or are too busy in their own jobs to perform the work that is needed, according to the former chair, Pyle.

Moreover, the political pressure placed on the commissioners can be daunting at times, she said, because developers often want to build on historic sites that community advocates are trying to preserve. Sometimes the commission is the only defense left for significant properties, she said, which places commission members on the hot seat.

At least one solid candidate for the commission has been left dangling for months as she awaits word on whether she will be named to the commission or not. Dora Millikin, a Lahaina resident with substantial experience in building and restoring award-winning historic properties, formerly served on the Westport Historic Commission in Massachusetts. She and her husband Trip are deeply committed to Maui: Trip’s family has lived in Hawaii for more than 150 years.

In July, she applied for one of the open slots on the commission. She was interviewed but has never received a formal response to her application.

“I can’t wait to get started,” she said. “I really want to move this along.”

Millikin, who owns the restored historic home in Lahaina now known as the Miracle House, said she has been puzzled to learn that the commission has not been meeting regularly.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” she said.

The situation doesn’t make sense to a lot of people. Lahaina is too valuable to the entire state to risk the complete loss of its unique heritage and legacy through neglect, delay or incompetence.

“Lahaina was the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom,” Cochran said. “It was the heart of the Hawaiian nation.”

Maui officials better get their act together. It’s a competitive world. Other tourist destinations are doing a better job highlighting their treasures, recognizing what they have that is special and capitalizing on it.

The Maui Cultural Resources Commission needs to get back to work.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.