A group of local activists and politicians delivered a petition with more than 14,000 signatures to Gov. Josh Green’s office on Tuesday, imploring him to put off reopening West Maui to tourism. 

Green has said Sunday is the official reopening date and that he expects tourism to pick up slowly over the next few months. 

But locals say this weekend is too soon to invite fun-seeking vacationers back to an area that has been deeply traumatized and is still in mourning.

“The wave of recent events is still burning our shoulders, and our souls ache with grief,” said Paele Kiakona, one of the main organizers of the community group Lahaina Strong, which created and circulated the online petition. “Yet amidst this profound pain, we’re being urged to march forward, even as our wounds remain open and vulnerable.”

Lahaina Strong was originally founded by Lahaina local Jordan Ruidas in 2018 as a fundraiser to help the around 20 families who were displaced by the wildfire that ripped through the town that year. 

The group went dormant during the following years, but after the Aug. 8 fires destroyed Lahaina and killed at least 98 people, Ruidas reactivated the group. 

Its goal has been to support direct donations to families who’ve lost their homes but also to be a voice for local people to help make sure their interests are heard, said Kiakona. 

On top of starting a GoFundMe, which has raised only about $2,165 since Sept. 1, the group has social media pages that focus on activism and soliciting donations for featured ohana affected by the fires.

Maui City Councilwoman Tamara Paltin and West Maui Sen. Angus McKelvey are also affiliated with the group and attended Tuesday’s rally at the capitol. 

McKelvey said the petition was not politically motivated. He and state Rep. Elle Cochran, whose district includes Lahaina, sent a separate letter to Green on Sept. 29 urging him to delay his reopening plan. 

“It’s always been about the victims,” McKelvey said after the rally, which attracted around 70 people, many of whom flew from Maui that morning. “For me, as one who shares their fate, it’s about the victims, it always has been.” 

Green addressed the petition on Hawaii News Now on Tuesday afternoon. He called the Oct. 8 date a “gentle start” and said he didn’t expect to see a large increase in the number of visitors to the area for another few weeks or months. 

While he said he was sympathetic to the concerns of those who think next week is too soon to invite tourists back, he said he worried about the economic implications for the entire state of remaining closed.

Many Maui business owners say they want to see tourists come back to help their struggling shops stay open and boost the economy. Maui is missing out on about $13 million per day due to lost visitor revenue, according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.  

“Constant communication has shown me that most people want to begin to get back to normal,” Green said on Hawaii News Now. “It’s not surprising at all that people are struggling, that they’re recovering, but if I waited another month or two months or two years … everybody, not only in West Maui, would have lost all of their resources and had to leave, but so would the rest of Maui fold because this is part of an ecosystem.”

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen has announced a phased reopening plan that includes the opening of the Ritz Carlton and the area between Kahana Villa and Kapalua to visitors on Oct. 8.  Kahana Villa is about 7 miles north of Lahaina. Phases two and three of the plan don’t yet have dates attached to them, but the third and final phase will include the opening of the Royal Lahaina Resort and the Hyatt Regency, where the majority of displaced residents are living. 

Green said it’s up to individuals to decide when they are ready to go back to work, but he wants to give people the option. 

“People can choose how they want to re-engage, but I can’t let parts of the state collapse,” he said on Hawaii News Now.  

But even as many locals start to worry about their financial futures, some say they’re still conflicted about welcoming tourists back to the area.  

Michelle Salazar Hyman, a therapist and volunteer with Tagnawa, an outreach group for Filipino families affected by the fires, said her group did interviews with more than 58 Filipino survivors, and nearly half of them opposed reopening West Maui to tourism. Around 20% said they had mixed feelings. 

But those with mixed feelings said that if they felt more stable in their housing and had more access to financial assistance, they wouldn’t want to start working again next week, said Nadine Ortega, another volunteer with Tagnawa. 

“We have people that, they don’t know where they’re going to live,” she said. “There’s a fear that they’re going to be displaced by tourists coming in.” 

Green said on Hawaii News Now that no one staying in hotels would be displaced by tourists. Some people may need to relocate as contracts with certain hotels expire and survivors are consolidated into fewer hotels.

Kiakona, who worked as a bartender at Merriman’s Kapalua before the fires, said he recognizes tourism will bring money back to struggling businesses, but he’s not ready to subject himself to constant questions from visitors who will inevitably want to know how he’s been impacted by the disaster. 

“I’m not ready to go back,” he said to the dozens gathered at the State Capitol on Tuesday. “I don’t want the conversation to always be, ‘Oh, did you lose your home? How are you displaced in this wildfire?’… Somebody consistently reminding you of the disaster you just went through, reminding you of the trauma. That could be detrimental.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.