Residents Address Tokuda in Townhall Meeting

County Councilwoman Keani Rawlins-Fernandez holds a laptop for a resident to communicate remotely with U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda during a townhall meeting at Mitchell Pauole Center April 11. Photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

Despite being stuck on Oahu because of flight cancellations due to bad weather, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda attended a townhall meeting remotely via Zoom last weekend. A couple dozen residents came to Mitchell Pauole Center to voice issues affecting the community.

Residents highlighted the need for an evacuation center, better waterway management to mitigate storm-related flooding and better emergency access routes. They also asked for updates on the war with Iran and on the first coconut rhinoceros beetles found on Molokai.

“We had three different flights trying to get to Molokai. Two planes were turned around in the air. I was never allowed to even leave the ground,” Tokuda told residents through a computer screen at the April 11 meeting. “We do apologize that the flights aren’t coming in. We will be back to do an in-person townhall.”

The first question asked to the congresswoman was what Congress would do to stop the war with Iran.

“We’ve tried multiple times to pass the War Powers Resolution to rein in this president,” Tokuda said. “I have to take a look if we’re going to try it again this coming week.”

Many in Congress, she said, are against this war. She has yet to hear any justification to what the United States objectives are, what the threat even was, and the biggest question mark is the exit strategy, Tokuda said. 

She asked constituents to hold Congress members supporting the war accountable for a war costing taxpayers more than a billion dollars a day.

Some residents were concerned with evacuation centers, and questioned about the National Guard Armory that used to be available to the community. Tokuda stressed the need for an evacuation center that can withstand hurricane-force winds in every community. She said she wasn’t sure what is going on with the building, and would check its status with the state government, who has jurisdiction over it.

County Councilwoman Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who mediated the meeting, chimed in, saying last year, the police department requested to use the Armory and renovate it to the tune of $15 million to temporary relocate out of the flood zone. 

But the Molokai Heritage Trust is trying to acquire Molokai Ranch, which owns roughly a third of the island. If their plans come through, Rawlins-Fernandez said, it would be fiscally responsible to instead use those $15 million toward construction of a permanent police station on land acquired by the trust. That would free the Armory, potentially allowing it to be used as an office for the Maui Emergency Management Agency, a shelter and a distribution hub, she said.

“That’s something we’re just exploring now,” Rawlins-Fernandez said. 

Justin Neuhart, Molokai staff specialist at MEMA, said the island is cut off by river systems in each district, and the last Kona low storm exposed the need for a resiliency hub in each area, with a place to store generators, food and satellite communication systems.

Neuhart spoke of the need for landowners to get involved in projects to mitigate flooding from rivers that cut off communities. Additionally, he alerted the heavy rains are promoting vegetation growth, and during the summer, the drier conditions will add “fuel to the fire.”

A community member said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has told residents they need a permit before cleaning up riverbeds. 

“But when you try to save people’s lives by opening up the river, you no more time for it, because I’m pretty sure they’re not going to open up on Saturdays and Sundays,” he said.

Tokuda said she planned a Zoom meeting with county and state officials, and the Army Corps of Engineers to remind them to never use any kind of federal permits as an excuse, because those rivers need to be cleared out to avoid flooding. 

She asked the community for help in identifying impacted waterways needing to be cleared, and said she wanted to know those responsible for clearing them. 

“Some of those culverts are just too small. They’re not meant for the kind of water we saw coming through,” Tokuda said. “If we think that’s a once-in-a-100-year storm, we’re kidding ourselves, because these storms are happening a lot more frequently than every 100 years.”

Donna Paoa brought a copy of a formal letter she was planning to mail to several parties involved, detailing several flood events in the Kawela area all the way back to 1982.

“It has to do with culverts and the cleaning of culverts, the lack of knowing who’s responsible, having private landowners owning the land, and they’re not here. So anyway, we did the homework. We have our pictures. I’m going to give it to you,” Paoa told Tokuda. 

The congresswoman also heard concerns about the coconut rhinoceros beetle, an invasive pest that until last week had been detected in every major Hawaiian Island but Molokai. On April 7 and 8, two beetles were found in traps setup in different locations 12 miles apart. 

She said efforts to keep Molokai free of the CRB will require a lot of support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We’ll continue to push on that for support,” Tokuda said.