All of Hawaii elected our state legislators and our governor, who appointed our Public Utilities Commission and emergency management officials. These same officials seemingly ignored the clear danger to Lahaina that was revealed after the 2018 Lahaina wildfire. Lahaina residents begged our state and county officials not to let another fire destroy our town. For five years, I believe nothing was done.

Their failure to act caused over 100 deaths and billions of dollars in damage. For Hawaii’s voters to deny any responsibility for what happened is not right. We elect these people to represent and protect us. When they fail us, every single voter shares the responsibility for that failure. This is not a Maui-only problem, this is a statewide problem. The courts and the insurance industry will not allow the state to walk away from its negligence.

David Jung

Punchbowl

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