Editor’s note: In light of Hawaii’s November 5 general election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer a few questions about their stance on various issues and the priorities they would pursue if elected.

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

For general information, visit Civil Beat’s Election Guide, where you can also see the other candidates on the general election ballot.

1. The fires are clearly a major problem for Maui County. What is the most important thing Maui needs to do now to recover from the fires?

We must work with housing developers to create more housing and provide our displaced residents with a place they can continue to call home. Housing provides permanence and stability.

As a community, with government support, we should prioritize physical and mental health. Together, we should work with disaster preparedness and resilience experts to create safer communities and protect ourselves from another disaster.

For financial and demographic reasons, Maui County cannot afford another major disaster.

2. What should Maui do to encourage people to stay? What can the county do to ensure families are not priced out of the housing market?

Maui County should allow the construction of homes that are financially affordable for our community. We face a supply and demand problem, not only for the homes themselves, but also for the materials needed to build them.

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

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

Aging in place means being able to live safely, independently and comfortably in your own home and community as you age. As a mother of four young children, I hope we can provide everyone with the education, employment, home-buying opportunities and community we need to succeed here at home in Maui County.

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

Yes, I value county autonomy. Each county that makes up Hawaii is unique and should allow county-specific laws to be enacted by the local government and its residents.

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

My vision for Lahaina is a place that the people of Lahaina can call home again. The people of Lahaina should feel safe and comfortable in their arms. How it is rebuilt, aside from incorporating modern building and fire codes to create a safer community, should be left to the people who call Lahaina home.

Although I now live in Makawao, Paia will always be my home. Paia and Lahaina have many things in common. My office and I work with MEMA, the police and fire departments to ensure Paia is as safe as possible.

However, if Paia ever experiences a tragedy like the town of Lahaina, I hope Maui County and its government respect the people of Paia and listen to their vision. I respect the people of Lahaina and know that I can do this for them.

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

Be open, be honest, listen and be a good person. We need better cooperation between local government, society and the media.

Accountability, transparency and restoring trust are 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 springs and provide better access while creating a system for recycled and grey water. Upcountry Maui, for example, has suffered from annual droughts for decades due to a lack of springs and reliance on a nearly century-old system that uses surface water.

Resource stewardship should include providing additional resources to the people who call Maui home so that future generations can continue to do so.

7. What should Maui County do first to anticipate climate change rather than just react to it?

To anticipate climate change rather than just react to it, Maui County should first gain a realistic understanding of what climate change entails. It means more than just sea level rise: higher temperatures, increased drought, severe storms and a higher risk of wildfires.

We need to build resilience in our communities by passing legislation, setting budget priorities, and making changes in education and infrastructure.

8. Homelessness is becoming a growing problem on Maui. What do you think needs to change to help people find and keep housing?

Maui County should work better with the state to improve access to mental health, drug rehabilitation and education.

Because there are different forms and stages of homelessness, I hope we can improve access to affordable rental housing to provide a sustainable supply of affordable housing for people in the transition phase.

9. Traffic on Maui is getting worse and different regions face different challenges. What would be your approach to improve Maui’s traffic 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 walking distance. I hope that as a county we can return to a neo-business/county town model similar to Paia and Makawao. This includes allowing more mixed use where we combine businesses, services and housing.

We also need to better modernise our existing infrastructure to serve the size of the population. In many cities, we still have the same roads and infrastructure that we have had for years, without adapting them to the growing population. Given that we need to create more housing to address the housing crisis, we also need to foresee the construction of the necessary roads to enable safe travel.