Congressional leaders questioned state, county, and federal officials for more than three hours on Wednesday over identifying lessons learned and improving federal support following Maui’s wildfires.
WAILUKU, Hawai’i (Island News) — Congressional leaders questioned state, county, and federal officials for more than three hours on Wednesday over identifying lessons learned and improving federal support following Maui’s wildfires.
“I encourage everyone here to be in conversation with each other, but also to be innovative because I think redoing what you were doing isn’t going to get you where you ultimately need to be. You were already in a hole,” California Rep. Katie Porter said.
Porter was a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, which led the field hearing.
The representative said the fires “supercharged” the island’s housing crisis and she emphasized the need to “build back better.”
“What do we need to change to create a better market for affordable housing in Maui?” Porter asked Maui Mayor Richard Bissen.
Bissen responded, “Water is probably the greatest barrier, at least for the west side. Seventy-six percent of the water on the west side is privately owned. Twenty-four percent is owned by government, the county,” Bissen shared.
Representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda were also present to comment on the local recovery efforts following the fires.
“There’s so much professional and personal commitment that each one of them (county and state leaders) brings to really making sure that we not just help people heal and recover, but that we actually come back so much stronger,” Tokuda said.
Bissen reported the county received more than 150 permit applications to rebuild homes that were destroyed and 20 of them are currently being built.
The mayor also mentioned a draft of the county’s long term recovery plan should be ready in October.