Maui County Solutions
When elected, Netra will work towards creative solutions to all issues facing Maui County.
For example:
Development | Housing | Economy | Water Resources | Environment | Agriculture | Healthcare | Drug abuse
Maui needs a mixture of big and small businesses. It is small businesses that make Maui more economically sustainable. Cottage industry follows the principles of smart growth, with mixed use neighborhoods, where people work in their homes or can walk to work - saving time and money; and cutting down on traffic and the overuse of roads. Especially rural areas such as Molokai, Lanai, Hana and Upcountry Maui thrive on small business. |
Netra talking story with Kaahumanu produce vendor |
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Development needs to be carefully planned so that it benefits the island community as a whole. If restrictions on development are too great, jobs that play an important part in our community will be lost. If restrictions on development are too lax, degradation of our small town community and environment will cause serious loss of the quality of life we all enjoy. I would like to replace the current zoning and planning systems with smart growth principles and with SmartCodes,
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"Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND)" that is based on the village mixed use concept instead of the current system that segregates uses into: residential, rural, commercial, industrial and agricultural. With the current system - which is super-imposed from the mainland - we are dependent on the increasingly expensive automobile to get to the store, to school, and to work. TND is compatible with Hawaii's small town traditions and ensures that a meaningful and distinctive community is created. This would ensure the building of towns and communities that are pedestrian – friendly, comfortable, safe and ecologically and economically sustainable. In addition, "Rural cluster subdivisions" create dedicated open space and agricultural areas. |
Netra with Theresa Taber - Mortgage Mate Hawaii State Manager |
The lack of affordable and accessible housing is an issue nationwide; especially in desirable visitor destinations such as Maui. This is further exacerbated by the high cost of building on the island. Government needs to continue to cooperate with developer and s to provide affordable housing for our residents. Private developers have offered to build over 9,000 affordable units, however the Council has not accepted the offers. A&B has offered to give over 600 acres of land to the County. That offer has not been accepted. It is time to start saying "yes" to affordable housing. Community land trusts are also a good way to create affordable housing. |
Netra at SOS Metal Recycling |
Our health depends on clean air and water. The County of Maui has an ambitious plan to recycle an ever increasing amount of our waste. Netra plans to support this and advocate for even higher standards of recycling, including wastewater and food waste.
Maui has a small amount of park space per capita. The best way to acquire local funds to purchase more open space would be to implement a hotel tax that directly funds county land acquisitions for parks and open space. Pump don't dump article
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We need to bring water back to Maui residents. We must:Restore stream flows: Taro farmers are having difficulty irrigating crops as they wait for stream flows to be restored in EMI ditches. The Na Wai Eha contested case is looking at the four streams: Waihe'e, Waiehu, 'Iao and Waikapu that are being diverted by Wailuku Water Company. The Arakawa Administration set aside money for the condemnation of this land. This condemnation needs to be completed.
Increase water reclamation. Right now Maui reclaims about 20% of its wastewater for irrigation use. The rest is sent in underground injection wells back to the ocean. The expensive component of water reclamation is transporting the water to and from the treatment facility. Therefore the best use of this system is in small local facilities built into new sub-divisions where little transporting is required.
Conserve water: There are still many private, County and State sidewalks and parking lots being watered; and watering done during the daytime, when it evaporates. It is more cost effective to systematically correct inappropriate water uses than to develop new water sources.
Encourage catchment upcountry and other rainy areas: Large land-owners such as A&B and Haleakala Ranch, in addition to private residences could collect a substantial amount of water with catchment – especially for irrigation use.
Develop water storage: The new reservoir up-country is a good start. This needs to be followed through – and then the county needs to work towards building more. Reservoirs are expensive; and generally projects of this size are paid for with federal monies – which the County can apply for.
Zoning is the appropriate mechanism to control growth. There have been those in County government who have used the unavailability of water as a mechanism to control growth. Keeping water scarce isn't an efficient or appropriate way to limit growth. What effectively has happened is that large developers have been able to build and homeowners have not. The new general plan and my proposed development point system should limit growth and tie it to resource and other infrastructure development appropriately.
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Conserve water: There are still many private, County and State sidewalks and parking lots being watered; and watering done during the daytime, when it evaporates. It is more cost effective to systematically correct inappropriate water uses than to develop new water sources.
Encourage catchment upcountry and other rainy areas: Large land-owners such as A&B and Haleakala Ranch, in addition to private residences could collect a substantial amount of water with catchment – especially for irrigation use.
Develop water storage: The new reservoir up-country is a good start. This needs to be followed through – and then the county needs to work towards building more. Reservoirs are expensive; and generally projects of this size are paid for with federal monies – which the County can apply for.
Zoning is the appropriate mechanism to control growth. There have been those in County government who have used the unavailability of water as a mechanism to control growth. Keeping water scarce isn't an efficient or appropriate way to limit growth. What effectively has happened is that large developers have been able to build and homeowners have not. The new general plan and my proposed development point system should limit growth and tie it to resource and other infrastructure development appropriately.
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Sustainable practices preserve and recycle resources so that at least as much of these resources will be available for the next generation. Thrivable takes it to the next level.
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Maui leaders have been talking about diversified agriculture since 1967, yet we still import up to 90% of our food. Our farmers are struggling to make ends meet due in part to the lack of support from County Government. Growing our own crops makes us less dependant on food transported from the mainland. Since farming is currently not lucrative on Maui, the government needs to step in and find creative solutions such as cooperative farming, agricultural parks, farmer's markets and subsidized farming.
We need to develop our water resources; and also ensure that stream flows are available to taro and other small farmers so they will have the water the water they need for healthy crops.
Netra recently co-founded the Maui Sustainable Farming Coalition, a group that strives to increase local food production through governmental cooperation and community organizing.
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It is a priority to make healthcare services available to all residents, including new medical facilities on the West and South sides. It is absolutely imperative that our medical facilities be upgraded. We need a more comprehensive vision of Maui’s healthcare needs which includes the use of 21st century health technologies to improve quality of care, reduce costs and enable people to age in place. Maui residents have been dying for years because of inadequate health care. |
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As a social worker Netra is very aware of the ice epidemic and the harm that it is doing to our families and the community as a whole. Our county government is squandering scarce resources in ineffective approaches such as increased law enforcement and incarceration. New evidence shows this approach ineffective and wasteful. Increasing drug treatment and social services is a much more productive and worthwhile use of taxpayer dollars.
Read:
Drug Court More Effective, Less Costly Than Prison
In Maui News
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