The Politics of Hypocrisy: Punching Down in the Name of Political Virtue
KITV Island News aired a story titled “Properties in the Lahaina burn zone go up in costs much higher than original worth.” The story endeavored to shame Lahaina fire survivors who make a personal decision to sell vacant lots on the open market by accusing the fire survivors of listing vacant lots for sale for allegedly “hundreds of thousands” more than “pre-fire appraisals”. Island News interviewed Lahaina Community Land Trust Executive Director, Autumn Ness who then broadened the attack on Lahaina fire survivors who wish to sell.
The owners of all three properties mentioned by Island News are local residents and fire survivors who lived at those properties as a primary residence before the August 8, 2023 fires. We should all be highly offended that Island News and the Lahaina Community Land Trust would attack fire survivors who lost everything about the method by which they attempt to recover after the fires. Sale of a property may be the only way some fire survivors are able to start over and it’s not anybody’s role to publicly and gratuitously admonish the personal decisions that a property owner makes during this fragile recovery process.
Participation in something like a land trust should be a voluntary process and not a coercive exercise by which public shame is employed as a tool by one group, who has some power and authority, against another who is merely exercising their rights as an owner of private property. While the Lahaina Community Land Trust may be disappointed and frustrated that it has not gained the post-fire traction it had envisioned, attacking and shaming fire survivors is not the way to gain community trust for the program.
Now, to the substance of the “news” story. The entire thesis of the story is based on a comparison of the 2023 assessed value to the current listing price today. The story is so bad that it is actually misleading because Island News conflates the concept of “assessed value” and “appraised value.” This is not a legitimate comparison because values assessed by Maui County are rarely good indicators of fair market value.
Unlike Island News, Ms. Ness did at least use the right terminology “pre-fire assessed value,” but that does not make the comparison of pre-fire assessed value to current list price appropriate. This author estimates that there would be thousands of examples of properties where there exists a significant disparity between assessed value and fair market value. Thus, Island News and the Lahaina Community Land Trust compared knowingly low assessed value figures to list prices to create the impression of a large increase in value, then exploited the false narrative that these properties are listed at prices “much higher than original worth.”
Just a few minutes of research through the County property records reveals several examples where assessed values are far below the actual fair market value.
It might be worthwhile for the Lahaina Community Land Trust to publicly engage local lobbyists/social media influencers and politicians and ask why have those who encourage local residents to forgo real estate equity-building and appreciation not conveyed their own properties to the land trust? Many politicians and lobbyists talk a big game about what others should do with their private property, and show nothing but disdain for the Western, capitalist concepts of property appreciation and pejoratively label it as a “commodification of housing.” But, how many politicians and local Instagram celebrities have stepped forward to lead by example? This author is not aware of any.
All of the following politicians, salaried lobbyists, and social media influencers claim to support affordable housing and have touted the importance of the Lahaina Community Land Trust. According to Maui County property records, none of the following property owners have conveyed the land underlying their properties to the Lahaina Community Land Trust, or any other land trust for that matter:
Tamara Paltin:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence in Napili
Property 2: non-owner-occupied single-family residence on land in Hilo
Jordan Ruidas family:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence in Honokowai
Paele Kiakona family:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence and land in Honokohau Valley
Courtney Lazo family:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence in Lahaina
Property 2: non-owner-occupied single-family residence in Waihikuli
Matt Jachowski:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence and in Haiku (4 acres)
Property 2: agricultural land in Haiku (2 acres)
Property 3: agricultural land in Haiku (2.6 acres)
Property 4: agricultural land in Haiku (6.2 acres)
Property 5: non-owner-occupied single-family residence in Paia
Tiare Lawrence:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence in Makawao
Kaihekai “Kai” Nishiki:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence in Wailuku
Mayor Richard Bissen:
Property 1: owner-occupied single-family residence in Kahului
Property 2: non-owner-occupied townhouse in Kihei
While some say that the Lahaina Community Land Trust focuses on vacant lots impacted by the August 8, 2023 fires, the affordable housing crisis is not limited to the Lahaina burn zone. In fact, every one of these politicians and lobbyists has the ability to ensure that their own personal properties will remain affordable for the next generation, but none have taken this step. Their land can be conveyed to the trust and a 99-year lease awarded to the resident.
See What is a Community Land Trust? (landincommon.org)
This author challenges all of the above individuals to lead by example and convey the land deemed to be their own private property to the Lahaina Community Land Trust, or any land trust so that these properties will remain affordable for generations to come.
If any of these individuals are not willing to convey their own properties to the land trust, then why should a fire survivor who lost everything? It’s long past time for politicians, lobbyists, and influencers to stop the virtue signaling and actually practice what they preach. Or, just stop preaching.