Betrayed in Paradise: Lahaina Survivors Fight to Reclaim Their Lives as Democrats and Developers Circle the Ashes. 6/18/25
- lhpgop
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
LAHAINA, MAUI — Nearly a year after the fires reduced historic Lahaina to cinders, the survivors still stand amidst ruins—not just of buildings, but of trust.
With children still in temporary trailers, elders displaced from ancestral land, and working families haunted by FEMA bills and foreclosure notices, the rebuilding of Lahaina has become less about recovery and more about resistance. Residents face two battles: one against the ash, and the other against political abandonment.
Despite wall-to-wall Democratic control of Hawaii’s government—from the Governor’s Mansion to both chambers of the Legislature—meaningful, timely aid has proven elusive. What survivors have received instead are “listening sessions,” workshops, and a slow-dripping faucet of promises that never seem to reach the parched ground of reality.
💼 Where Are the Democrats?
Governor Josh Green and the Democratic supermajority in Honolulu were quick to declare sympathy and faster still to hold press conferences. But sympathy hasn’t rebuilt homes. And press conferences haven’t stopped predatory land grabs from investors drooling over Lahaina’s real estate.
While $1 billion in state recovery funding has been promised, only a fraction has reached survivors directly, and even then, with paperwork so complex that nonprofits have had to form coalitions just to interpret it.
Survivors like Brandy Cajudoy—who helped create the Hoʻōla Coalition's “A–Z Rebuild Checklist”—describe families buried in forms while their neighbors receive foreclosure letters. The very people who lost everything must now navigate a bureaucratic gauntlet built by the same political party that rules Hawaii uncontested.
“People thought the fire was the hard part,” said one displaced resident. “Turns out, surviving the government is worse.”
💰 Land Grabs in the Shadows
The wreckage of Lahaina isn’t just a humanitarian crisis—it’s a real estate opportunity for speculators. Since the fire, an estimated 6 to 20 percent of properties in the burn zone have quietly changed hands, many to out-of-state buyers or LLCs with hidden ownership. With over 75% of properties in the fire zone not owner-occupied even before the fire, the path was already paved for a post-disaster land reshuffle that would squeeze out the working-class Native Hawaiian families who once made up the soul of the town.
Organizations like the Lahaina Community Land Trust and Hawai‘i Community Lending have scrambled to buy parcels before they fall into the hands of hedge funds or ultra-wealthy resort developers. But their efforts—noble and grassroots—receive a fraction of the attention or support that state officials have given to vague long-term “planning workshops.”
Meanwhile, investors have time, money, and attorneys. Survivors have grief, GoFundMe, and prayer.
🏠 Still Nowhere to Call Home
As of this month, over 1,300 Lahaina families still live in temporary housing, many in FEMA trailers or hotels. FEMA recently began charging rent for these units, a cruel insult to survivors already unemployed, displaced, or grieving.
The Ka La‘i Ola modular community, opened in May 2025, houses just 240 units—a welcome effort, but a drop in the bucket compared to need. Meanwhile, families continue to split, scatter, or camp in crowded relatives’ homes while developers circle overhead like vultures over smoldering soil.
📉 Paradise Lost by Political Neglect
Hawaii’s Democratic leaders control everything: the purse strings, the recovery narrative, and the regulatory levers that could block predatory purchases or fast-track housing grants. But they’ve offered only token measures—fire-risk zoning talks, committee reviews, slow-moving housing boards.
No state-level foreclosure moratorium.No guarantee of land return for displaced homeowners.No mass mobilization of aid.
Instead, it's been locals who have organized food drives, who have fought to protect land, who have built temporary shelters with donated supplies. While Hawaii’s political elite issue statements, Lahaina’s working class lives in tents.
💬 Final Word
This isn’t just a story about wildfires. It’s a story of a Democratic machine more interested in optics than outcomes. It’s about developers hoping time and trauma will wear survivors down. And it’s about a people who, even as the ashes settle, refuse to be erased.
If the State of Hawaii wants to restore faith, it must act—boldly, transparently, and now. Because no amount of planning sessions will replace a stolen home.
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