This is the first in a series of interviews with Maui County candidates running for office in this Fall’s elections. See a complete listing of  Election Offices & Candiates – Click here.

KAHEKAI “KAI” NISHIKI
Candidate for County Council: Paia/Makawao/Haiku Seat

Age: 37
Occupation: Small business owner
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Website: www.kainishiki.org

What is your position on TVRs? I support home-based businesses as long as they are quiet, do not produce unpleasant odors and do not have significant retail traffic or impact on parking. By operating a business from our homes, Maui residents save money on fuel and congestion on our roads is reduced.  In order to support farmers and encourage local agriculture TVRS should be part of a working farm in agriculturally zoned areas.

 I would include vacation rentals in the category of home-based businesses provided the owner is a Maui resident who pays the resident income tax.  I do not support absentee TVRS owned by offshore speculators who drive our home prices up. To facilitate communication between the existing community and the TVR owner there should be an onsite manager -a person whom the neighborhood could contact. We might require approval by the communities that the TVRS are located in and create a mechanism for community input.

Nevertheless, I would oppose TVR use that causes problems for their neighbors.  The key to any home-based business is that it should not change the character of the neighborhood nor should it create significant parking, traffic, noise or odor problems.  There must be a way to support our local economy and protect the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

What is your plan to improve Maui’s water supply? We need to attack this problem on multiple levels.  Upcountry needs more reservoirs – possibly integrated with pumped storage so that MECO can use more low-cost wind and solar generation. I support rain-catchment and Gladys Baisa’s bill to use grey water for irrigating yards.

 For large-scale nonfood (other than processed food like sugarcane) irrigation, I support creating a pipe system that carries our treated water to the fields.  Currently, our water is treated to safe levels that are quite appropriate for irrigation.  (This has the added benefit of ending injection wells that have been implicated in ocean water quality deterioration.)

 At the same time we need to restore stream flows to our small farmers and taro lo’i.  The State Constitution makes water a public trust.  We need to manage it wisely.

 It does not make sense to change zoning so that more vacation homes can be built until we have put these measures in place and our residents are not threatened with mandatory water rationing or denied water meters.

Do you think development should be linked to infrastructure? Absolutely.

What is your position on MECO plans to have BlueEarth use palm oil bio fuel? I oppose using palm oil for any biodiesel plant here on Maui. This will simply yoke us to another foreign oil producer with rising prices just as damaging as petroleum prices.  Additionally it makes us responsible for the slash and burn rainforest clearing in Indonesia.

 Biodiesel has its place – there are a few companies currently operating in Hawaii who are creating a unique cooking-oil product. Biodiesel created from used vegetable oil, (this also keeps one less product out of the landfill) and buying secondary products that would otherwise go to waste makes sense.

 But we have to face facts that the conversion to biofuels is impinging on the world’s food supplies and driving up the price of food.  There simply is not enough land and water on Maui to supply the Blue Earth project with local feedstock.

What can you do for stream restoration on Maui? I support enforcing the State Constitution that water is a public trust. Agriculture is one of the top users of water in the water hierarchy. This does not mean that one or two large agricultural companies should control the water.  Instead, the State and County should control the water and small farmers who rely on stream-flows (especially for taro) should be given equal importance.  That means, in some cases, putting some of the water back in the streams.

What is your position on Wailea 670, aka Honua`ula? I oppose private sewage and water infrastructure that the proposed Wailea 670 project suggests. The County and the taxpayers of Maui will be forced with taking it over someday. This is similar to the Moloka`i Ranch’s utility crisis that Moloka`i faces.

 Until we have adequate water and sewer infrastructure, we should be concentrating on 100% local resident housing construction and public projects.

 We are facing a time of serious economic slowdown and we need to do everything we can to provide jobs. Perhaps, with a new leadership at the Federal level, more Federal and State funds will be released to provide for infrastructure and housing. I’ll be doing everything I can to get State and Federal (and County) funds for infrastructure and resident housing so that we can keep our construction workers employed without having to sell out to the off-island luxury vacation home developers.

What do you think of recent proposals to license home businesses? As I said in my answer to the TVR question, home businesses are a benefit to our citizens and to our infrastructure.  And as we go into this economic downturn, they may be vital for some of our resident’s survival.

 So, in general, I support home-based businesses.  However, they must have negligible retail traffic, (perhaps no more than one customer per hour average?) not produce any noise, (except where large lots make it inaudible to neighbors). Home-based businesses should make sure there is adequate parking and make sure their customer’s cars are safely parked and not in the neighbor’s yard, or spilling out into the street. Most importantly, if TVR owners would like to continue staying in business, they should work very hard to not get a lot of neighbor complaints.

What do you think of the Superferry? Do you feel you would have power to affect it? How? I think ferries in general are great.  However the Superferry was poorly designed.  It required $40 million dollars of our money for ramps because it doesn’t (as other ferries do) carry its own ramp.  It guzzles gas and from my calculations, it will be more expensive than flying and renting a car once they end their promotional prices.

 Therefore, I believe we spent a lot of money on an enterprise that crowded our harbors (which is needed for freight) and may not be able to survive.  I wish that it had had a more economical design and with more community input.

 Unfortunately, the State Department of Transportation has been resistant to listening to the Maui County Council.  In order for the County Council to have any effect on any harbor issues, we need an amendment to the statutes giving each county the ability to review projects prior to implementation.  Without that, Maui County cannot control our harbor development.

 We need to realize that close to 98% of our goods come through Kahului Harbor and that it is already maxed out. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

County Park business permits: Good process or needs to be changed? Our parks are for our residents.  It is reasonable to restrict crowding by activity businesses so that our residents can enjoy their parks.

 I applaud the way that the Kanaha kiteboard and the plethora of windsurf companies that have worked to co-exist with the swimmers and paddlers – going so far as to install buoys to mark off an area for swimmers.

 The bottom line is that if people don’t push it and take advantage, we won’t have to regulate.  Unfortunately, it just takes one bad apple to wreck it for the rest of the businesses.

 When that happens, we have to regulate.

Should the County acquire Makena Landing for a public park? Definitely.

Should the County acquire roadways currently claimed by HC&S? Yes.

Do you support another hospital on Maui?  Why or why not? I support small, public, satellite-type acute-care hospitals in Kihei, Lahaina, Kula and Hana that are being proposed.

 Since private hospitals can turn away people without money or good private insurance, this would leave many of our residents without a hospital.  For that reason, I am cautious to the idea of switching from Maui Memorial (a public hospital who has to take everybody) to a private hospital that might only take our affluent visitors and wealthy mainland retirees.

 The idea of small satellite acute care hospitals solves our problem of immediate emergency care so that no resident has to travel a long distance when having a stroke, heart attack, asthma attack, injury, etc. and where immediate care is of the utmost importance.

Since so much of the Maui road system is state run, what can the county do to manage traffic? There are many strategies for reducing traffic.  First and foremost is to support and increase our bus system.  With skyrocketing fuel costs, our buses have turned out to be lifesavers to many of our working residents who can no longer afford to drive their own cars to work.

 Obviously, we must do better when we approve subdivisions.  We also need to get away from single-use bedroom communities and mix grocery stores and other essential stores in with housing so that folks can easily walk to do their shopping.

 We need to do everything possible to make it easy to use neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVS) that are small and cheap to run.  That means providing 35 mph or less routes for NEVS to travel from subdivisions to shopping.

 Safe bike paths and walkways are essential in connecting communities and we should make these a priority.

 We need to encourage the tourist industry to get away from putting folks in individual cars.

How can you prevent developers from acquiring permits when they already owe the
county affordable homes or have other unfulfilled commitments? The County Council has been changing the General Plan’s zoning variances to appease developers.  That has to stop.  If someone buys land zoned “park” (as those at Palauea Beach did) the law, says they cannot build. We must stop giving out variances!

We are finishing a comprehensive General Plan.  Now, we need to stick to it.

What are your ideas concerning Maui achieving greater Home Rule? We need to work with our legislators to get more input to the Department of Transportation (DOT). Currently, the DOT controls our harbors and road and I think we really need to get a larger voice in determining our future.

What is your plan for Maui achieving greater Energy Independence? We already have no-cost or low-cost loans for solar hot water on every roof.  And next year all new homes are mandated to have solar hot water.  That saves 40% off the utility bill and the increased up-front cost and additional loan payment is completely paid for by utility savings. So the buyer actually saves money.

 We need a similar program to help folks install photovoltaic and wind turbine net metering systems.  We can create a no-cost-to-the-government program modeled after one in California that allows people to pay their loans off with their property tax.  Thus, people with bad credit or big loans on their homes will be able to get low-interest loans.

 Rather than continuing to install generating units to meet increased peak load (mostly air conditioners) we need to implement time of day pricing on electricity.  However, the State Public Utilities Commission (PUC) controls this, and it is up to them whether or not this will happen.

 Then we need to lift the cap on net metering.  This means rather than install new generating units, MECO needs to install new storage in order to match generation with load.  Other countries and states already do this.  We are very behind the times.

 The beauty of lifting the cap on the net metering system and adequate storage capacity is that it reduces the costs for us – the ratepayers and it concentrates more on solar and wind power. (Again, the State Legislature controls this.)

 There are even more bold ideas we can pursue but I’ll leave those until another time.

 The key is to switch to solar and wind power that brings down the cost to the ratepayers.  Curiously enough, good renewable is cheaper!  

What is the greatest challenge Maui faces?  How would you address this problem? The economy, at the Federal, State and County levels is a huge concern. By implementing new energy generating projects and new energy-saving projects we could increase our local economy while reducing our need for imports. Also, another challenge is balancing growth while preserving our culture and ‘aina.

Do you support a Constitutional Convention?  Why or why not? I am wary of a Constitutional Convention.  At the moment we can amend our constitution (and have) but it takes a two thirds vote of the Legislature before it is put before the people.  A constitutional convention allows amendments with a simple majority of those voting.

 I don’t want the rights guaranteed by our constitution to be at risk. The American system is based on Majority Rule and minority rights. Minority rights are guaranteed in the constitution.  By allowing a simple majority to change the constitution, you run the risk of eliminating minority rights.

 This is simply an unnecessary risk.  We can change the constitution any time we want by the ordinary amendment process (requiring a two-thirds vote).

What distinguishes you from your opponent(s)? My opponent has consistently voted in favor of offshore development corporations at the expense of our local residents and without mandating infrastructure prior to building.  I want to provide jobs and homes without damaging our quality of life.

 I believe that I have the courage to initiate change that will create a good life for our residents and yet preserve these things that make Maui the island we love.

I believe that I have the courage to initiate change that will create a good life for our residents and yet preserve those things which make Maui the island we love.

Why should we vote for you? I humbly ask for your vote because I will work hard for you. I will listen to your concerns.  I am open to being persuaded by logic and facts. I care about doing what is best for the future.   I was born and raised on Maui, my parents are here and I hope to preserve our island so that my (and your) children can stay on Maui and enjoy our unique and precious way of life.

Henry Adams said: “No man should be in politics unless he would honestly rather not be there.” Would you care to make a comment on this statement? It certainly takes courage to run for office and Henry Adams speaks of the paradox between humility and a large ego many politicians portray. However, I feel that it is necessary that I run for office in order to provide a better future for Maui County. In the United States, we are privileged to be able to have a voice in the Government and I believe that I represent many of the voices of Maui County, who would like someone like me to represent them on the Council. It is important to put my desire to create the best possible future for Maui above personal aspirations that I may have and this is what I believe Henry Adams was referring to.