Civil Beat has asked candidates for the Hawaiʻi General Election on Nov. 3 to answer a survey about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following comes from John Guard, Nonpartisan candidate for Maui County Council Upcountry District.

His opponents are Derrick Cabiles, Bobby Pahia and Jon Yokouchi.

Go to Civil Beat’s 2026 Elections Guide for general information, and check out the other candidates on Civil Beatʻs 2026 Hawaiʻi Primary Ballot.

Why are you best suited for the job of council member, and why do you want the job?

I have been advocating for kids while coaching paddling for 25 years that they won’t be able to come home. I took action, joined the Planning Commission for 3.5 years and only left to continue serving my community from 2009 to 2022 with the Maui Fire Department. My wife passed away and I had to step away from service to raise my son. He is older and I have a skillset of collaboration, research, engagement, real estate, thinking outside the box, and generations on Maui. It is in my DNA :)

What is the biggest issue facing Maui County, and what is the first thing you would do to address it in the first six months after being elected?

Workforce housing and the loss of island families. I would advocate for my plan or a hybrid or alternative that is chosen. Why wait until January? The campaign is actually a distraction that divides the community when we need unity. In either event, I am holding talks now. We have the infrastructure in place where public-private partnerships get people in homes now and families, Aloha spirit and dollars stay on Maui improving the economy. Rents generated buy the next home so we spread out.

Here’s one question from a constituent: What is your position on upcountry speed humps? Would you remove them? Why or why not?

There are definitely a lot of them. At some point, constituents must have asked for them. There are areas that speeds get very high. I was in the Fire Department and worked at Pāʻia Fire Station. It was definitely noticeable in the fire truck and we would drop to very low speed. They do save lives though. We may have reached a “too much of a good thing.” Other traffic-calming measures are available to test if the constituents want to discuss.

The county now has a law on the books to effectively phase out several thousand vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts starting in 2029. The companion measure to grandfather in more than half of those properties has since been rejected by all three planning commissions. What would you do as a council member about this?

The issue is to reclassify to a different hybrid. The taxing of the vacation rental class may create more long-term units and possibly some owner units as needed. The vacation rental should then only apply at a higher amount to the building and not the land value so each complex unit owner could decide what works best for them. Tax incentives or some other mechanism to encourage converting to residential housing may be needed as well. I am sure we can find a way to work together soon.

Hawai‘i has a long-stated goal of growing more of its own food. What would you do to further that effort toward increased food sustainability?

I owned Kihei Compost with a partner. We donated healthy organic compost to every nonprofit that asked for it, including delivery. The idea was “How cool would it be if every child on Maui got their hands dirty, grew a strawberry or tomato or beans in our soil. Eating right off the plant brings a sparkle to a child’s eye, learning the connection to food. I would enhance resources to collaborate with existing farmers, ID GIS parcels for community gardens and teachers and work with landowners.

The county has been moving forward with plans to bring much more of Maui’s water supply under public ownership instead of private. What steps would you take to get a better handle on Maui’s water future?

Local control and oversight if managed well helps. I am all for controlling our own destiny with community engagement, empowerment. However, we need to be certain that the plan is well thought out and compared against other models. This has been an issue since the era of Native Hawaiian royalty. Population growth, economics, the need to protect our environment downstream, equitable use, etc. The transmission system is amazing but the water flowing through is its own resource. I am one person.

Overtourism can degrade the environment, contribute to wear and tear on infrastructure, generate traffic and disrupt neighborhoods. How well is Maui managing the tourism industry that drives its economy? What would you do differently?

As above, there is a will to manage tourism back to the identified ratio. There are vast reports about improving community interaction, volunteer opportunities, more dollars spent locally and not just high resort fees. Post-fires Lahaina squeezed these population groups together to an unhealthy level. In addition, grieving families were neighboring with vacationing tourists on different schedules. I cannot imagine what those families went through. Getting our fair share of Transient Accommodations Tax helps.

What should Maui County do to get in front of climate change rather than just reacting and adapting to it?

We have some of the most restrictive guidelines for retreat from the beach. We need to move utilities, roads, infrastructure inland or defend them. With the guidelines, we need some grace and flexibility for a few significant areas and be more restrictive with others. Parking lots are using less asphalt on certain beaches, a win. I would research other protection mechanisms over sandbags and hardening with no absorption. I have ideas with filtration, absorption and not pure sand and concrete.

Maui has been targeted for enforcement by ICE agents. What will be the position of your office to requests for more cooperation between county law enforcement and federal authorities?

Cooperation starts with Hawaiʻi being a gathering place. Educate on Native Hawaiian values and respect. If they have ID on a suspect, ICE or resident, they can work with local law enforcement. I am against racial profiling and using their role as a scare tactic/above their own law mentality. In Hawaiʻi, we have all been profiled by another population group. Don’t assume, it makes an ass out of you and me. False assumptions erode community and Aloha. ICE is a visitor in this state.

The $1.6 billion federal Community Block Development Grant is the largest disaster loan in U.S. history, but it falls far short of the estimates for recovery from the 2023 wildfires. What would you do to make those dollars count?

I have a plan for immediate housing that gets people not only under a roof. It should also help get them reunited with their community on Maui. I would then build multipurpose complexes where we have lost critical community space. These could add grants for ag, sustainable building, energy efficiency/resilience, emergency shelter, kūpuna arts and crafts, local farmer markets and pop-ups and also recreation areas needed for kids and families alike. Event space is also needed on Maui. Housing first.

The cost of living on Maui continues to remain high. How can county government help working and middle-class people buy homes, pay rent or otherwise afford to live and work on the island?

I have a detailed plan on this that I plan to launch prior to January win or lose. I am not final here. It allows for crisis housing now to stop Islanders leaving now. We need those families to stay as contributing assets to our island, Native Hawaiian values and community. Every family that leaves has been replaced by a demographic that may not have the same values. We lose Aloha spirit and have to teach the next residents those values. The population rises with stress, Native Hawaiian values might not.

What is your assessment of programs combating invasive species in Maui Nui and what other measures would you advocate for you in office?

Volunteerism, look at all resources available. If we are going to go after the problem, we have to go all in. We cannot go part-way and then underfund it. It just lets the invasive start up again. There are easier areas to access, even with work-permit kids that need a mentor, short-term help programs and community outreach. This is everyone’s business to protect the watershed, way of life (coqui, ants, CRB) and landscape.