Community organizers behind Kaiulu initiatives asked the County Budget Committee for funding to continue invasive‑species removal, native reforestation on mauka lands and programs that organizers say both improve watershed health and provide mental‑health benefits for survivors of the August 2023 wildfire.

Jeremy Delos Reyes described Kaiulu initiatives’ efforts to clear dry brush, restore native plants to help recharge the aquifer and provide community‑based mental‑health support. He said the group has worked with kupuna and keiki, hosted school groups and organized volunteer restoration days on roughly 2.2 acres currently under cultivation.

"The mental health aspect of that is is amazing," Delos Reyes said, adding the group has observed direct community healing outcomes and requested funding through the West Maui Economic Development fund for staffing, fencing and tools to scale the work.

Several speakers also raised county workforce and pay issues. Delos Reyes argued that the county needs to pay frontline inspectors and other rank‑and‑file workers more to attract qualified staff, and he urged the council to consider using some budgeted pay increases and retention bonuses to lift field‑level wages. Council members responded that collective‑bargaining constraints, position descriptions and state governance complicate immediate pay changes but that the council is pursuing retention pay and position reclassification as partial solutions.

Speakers requested amounts in the neighborhood of $30,000 to $60,000 for Kaiulu initiatives and related work and asked the committee to consider short‑term budget amendments to support currently unfunded projects.