Testimonies received from BFED Committee

Chair and Councilmembers, thank you for the opportunity to testify.

I’m here in support of a meaningful COLA and compensation adjustment for Maui firefighters.

The County and State have already acknowledged the cost-of-living crisis. Maui County officials received a 5% increase in 2024, followed by much larger increases in 2025—about 26% for councilmembers and over 23% for the council chair. At the state level, the governor received a 15% increase, with more planned. Police officers are receiving 5% raises annually for four years, plus retention bonuses.

Meanwhile, inflation continues to rise, with housing, food, and daily costs increasing across Hawaiʻi. On Maui, the median home price is now over $1.4 million.

Firefighters are expected to respond to everything—fires, medicals, rescues, disasters—24/7, in one of the most expensive places in the country to live.

If COLA and raises are justified for elected officials and other public safety employees, they are equally justified for firefighters.

A COLA is not extra—it’s necessary to retain experienced firefighters and protect the safety of our community.

Thank you.

Aloha Chair and Council Members,

As a childhood NASA enthusiast who later became a NASA engineer, I navigated the trauma of multiple shuttle disasters.

The attach reports found that twice that the same culture change was needed. Technical concerns were not flowing freely, decisions were being made behind closed doors based on profits, to avoid liability, delays or perceived shame, and civil servants paid for the dysfunction with their lives, live on TV.

County employees should be required to study and understand all lessons of these reports, which is basically this: dissidence should always be received and rewarded by decision makers, even if it turns out to be inaccurate, and that the best way for any captain to stop losing crew members is to accept and review all potentially life-saving findings.

Aloha,
Travis Liggett, M.S.

TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF FUNDING FOR LAʻAKEA VILLAGE HOUSING PROJECT
Before the Maui County Council Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee

Aloha Chair Sugimura, Vice Chair Batangan, and Members of the Committee,

My name is Brian Mercer, resident of Paia, and I live in Skill Village neighboring the proposed housing project. I am writing in strong support of the County of Maui Affordable Housing Fund request of $4.5 million for the Laʻakea Village supported housing project in Pāʻia.

My husband and I are personal trainers and have volunteered in the past at La’akea Village teaching fitness classes to their participants. We’ve seen firsthand how empowering their program for adults with IDD is. We’ve also heard firsthand from their participants how isolating life can sometimes be at home, away from their La’akea community. Not only would supporting the project provide much needed affordable and safe housing, it would continue to provide that sense of community after the day program has ended.

Particularly as adults with IDD age out of family homes or lose caregivers, finding housing that is both accessible and affordable can be a struggle. This project adds much needed ADA-accessible housing inventory to Maui with dedicated units for adults with disabilities and integrated housing for support staff and other income-qualified residents.

We have lived across the street from La’akea for over 11 years now and have seen through our time volunteering as it has grown and added a commercial kitchen, a store, and developed a farm that grows produce and flowers and now has horses. We’ve seen how well everyone does there and watched the individuals who take part in their program grow. We’ve seen their lives enriched. We’d love to see La’akea Village continue to grow and thrive with a housing community.

I am in favor of the proposed development and urge the committee to fully fund the requested $4.5 million so that this project can move forward to development.

Mahalo for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Brian Mercer

April 3, 2026

Honorable Yuki Lei Sugimura, Chair
Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee
Maui County Council

Submitted by Malia Bohlin on Behalf of Nicole Hokoana, Aloha House CEO

RE: Testimony in support of Affordable Housing Fund grant application by Aloha House for Sober Living Program Home Acquisition

Funding Request:
Aloha House is requesting grant in the amount of $2,000,000 from the 2027 Affordable Housing Fund to be used with a cash commitment of up to $1,000,000 from Aloha House from its financial reserves to support the total anticipated cost $3,000,000 for the fee-simple purchase of two properties

These properties will provide supportive long-term housing for up to 20 very low-income adults who are participating in an Aloha House behavioral health program, having completed intensive substance use treatment, and are receiving ongoing care to address co-occurring mental health/addiction disorders and require additional support and case management to facilitate long-term recovery.

Program History and Services:
Aloha House, Maui’s most established, comprehensive substance use treatment provider, operates an extended-care Sober Living Program to provide transitional and long-term housing for single adults that are participating in or have completed intensive substance use treatment and require ongoing case management and support to maintain sobriety.

Aloha House initiated the first Sober Living Program in 2013 and has steadily expanded the program to include six residential homes in Central Maui which currently provide long-term supportive clean and sober housing for a total of 46 adult participants. An additional 21 clients are served with apartment housing in a Wailuku property leased by the organization. Eligibility requirements for the program include:
1) Participation in or completion of an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program within 6 months prior to enrollment.
2) Adult males and females (18 years or older).
3) Agreement to abstain from alcohol and illegal drugs while in treatment, including abuse of prescription drugs.
4) Not an immediate danger to self or others.
5) Agreement to abide by program rules/expectations and cooperate in group and individual processes.

Clients in the Sober Living Program are typically employed and/or advancing their education as they work toward reestablishing their health, fiscal responsibilities, and relationships with family and friends.

Aloha House staff help support these efforts with life skills education, referrals to other community resources, and by providing transportation to programs such as Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous.

Program Need:
This type of supportive housing program has proven to significantly increase the likelihood of long-term recovery from substance use disorder. With the high number of Maui residents in recovery from substance use and increasingly unaffordable housing options, the need for this kind of housing continues to surpass available programs. At any given time, approximately 30 participants in the residential treatment program, and 325 clients under care in the mental health intensive case management program, could be eligible candidates for the sober living program, with an ongoing wait list of approximately 10 clients per month.

Very low-income members of the Maui community are often vulnerable, have limited support systems, and are at-risk for challenges that make maintaining permanent housing difficult. National statistics show that individuals living in poverty are at higher risk for substance use disorder, with overlapping issues for both target groups. Of those individuals who entered treatment at Aloha House between July 1, 2019 to the present, 63% reported income levels of less than $5,000. In addition to supporting relapse prevention, Aloha House Sober Living Program homes address the critical need for housing by providing homes for very-low income adults who are also at risk to become unsheltered.

Agency Preparation & Prior Experience:
With assistance from a local real estate professional, Aloha House staff has conducted a thorough search of residential properties currently for sale and properties sold over the last six months to identify appropriate properties and establish current market price ranges. Based on this search, the average sales price of four or more bedroom properties with two baths in Central Maui that meet Aloha House’s program criteria is $1,500,000. Aloha House is currently in the process of engaging with a local real estate professional to assist with the purchase of these properties.

Aloha House is also prepared to make an investment of up to $1,000,000 toward the purchase of the two properties if necessary.

The residential acquisition proposed is based on the model established by Aloha House with Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) grants applications in 2012, 2016, and 2019, all of which resulted in the successful purchases of large properties with cottages or attached ‘ohana units in Central Maui that have since been consistently utilized as program homes. During this time, more than 1,939 residents have been served in this program.

These properties were purchased with primary funding from AHF grants and significant organizational contributions from Aloha House to provide debt-free ownership of the properties. With base program fees of $300-600 per month from each resident, all properties are currently generating sufficient income to cover ongoing maintenance and repair costs, as well as supporting the cost of providing an appropriate level of case management to each resident. Based on operations to date, it is anticipated that all properties will be maintained as self-sustaining, sober living, mental health recovery homes, targeting very low-income Maui residents who are participating in Aloha House treatment programs for decades to come.
Program Benefit to the Community:
Based on an average stay of six months, it is estimated that two new program locations will provide affordable housing with an appropriate level of supportive services for at least 160 very-low income single adults over a five-year period, and hundreds more over the usable life of the properties. The fee-simple purchase of two existing residential structures as proposed in this request will result in permanent sober housing that is affordable to very-low income persons with flexible program fees based on the financial capabilities and needs of each resident. Based on a minimum useful life of 40 years, these two program locations will ultimately serve over 1,280 very-low income Maui residents.

This housing helps ease the burden of publicly funded resources such as law enforcement and emergency services and other community organizations such as providers for unsheltered individuals.
It is Aloha House’s intent to keep these properties in service of sober living, mental health recovery in perpetuity, ensuring this means of affordable housing continues to be available through the useable life of the properties.