MEMA asks council to fund staff, outreach and evacuation planning in FY26 budget

Amos Lono Kailoa Hewitt, Emergency Management Administrator for the Maui County Emergency Management Agency, told the Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee that MEMA is seeking continued and expanded funding for fiscal year 2026 to sustain preparedness and response work developed after last year’s incidents.

Hewitt said MEMA has completed a 5‑year strategic plan and a 2‑year integrated preparedness plan and asked the committee to fund positions approved in FY25 and three additional roles. “We respectfully request your ongoing support to fund the 22 positions proposed in FY25 along with the addition of 3 new positions that are critical to our mission,” Hewitt said. He also requested resources to stand up a reserve corps that could recall up to nine trained personnel to staff an emergency operations center or respond in the field across Maui Nui.

The nut graf: MEMA framed the FY26 request as not only payroll but an investment in systems — staffing, public information, community outreach, training, and technology — that officials say are needed to operationalize plans and to maintain readiness if federal grant streams fluctuate.

MEMA asked for sustained funding for increased overtime and travel tied to training and certification, and for expanded public information capacity. Hewitt highlighted the addition of a public information officer and community outreach specialists, and the anticipated public affairs officer, saying those roles are central to a planned countywide community resiliency workshop series and to improved education, alerts and warnings.

Committee members pressed MEMA on operational detail and metrics. The agency reported a baseline of roughly 22,000 alert subscribers and set a goal to reach 50,000 residents through outreach and alert-channel growth in FY26, using events, social media, Genesis Protect registration and other public education efforts. MEMA told the committee it expects to measure increases by tracking subscriptions and engagement after campaigns.

On evacuation analysis and planning, the administrator said MEMA is a partner on a U.S. Department of Transportation planning initiative geared toward detailed evacuation analysis for West Maui; the budget shows a $2.7 million increase tied to that planning effort. Hewitt said a key partner is NEC (Japan) and that the project would bring additional software and analytic capability to model evacuation routes and scenarios.

MEMA described three community resiliency hub models under review: a community‑based model (partnering with Vibrant Hawaii), a larger resiliency center model (concepts from HIEMA), and a smaller‑footprint model the county is still testing. The agency said it is coordinating with community partners to identify the most appropriate approach per island and community.

Committee members also asked how MEMA will address gaps in cost‑recovery and disaster financial protocols. Hewitt said the agency lacks a clear, formal finance procedure for disaster expenditures and that hiring a finance chief or finance specialist is a priority to help identify qualifying costs and to coordinate with consultants on cost recovery.

Members raised questions about alerts and warnings redundancy. Hewitt said MEMA intends to use a layered system — EAS, public sirens, Genesis Protect and radio — to mitigate single‑channel failures, and he described outreach to broadcast partners to secure generator backup to keep radio alerts available during power and cellular outages. He said radio is a key resiliency tool for the county’s alerting suite.

The body concluded with committee members pressing for more specificity on staffing classifications, vacancy lists and timelines for hires. Hewitt described ongoing, repeated coordination with Personnel Services and the use of internships and state workforce programs to fill roles more quickly.

Ending: MEMA’s FY26 presentation emphasized personnel, public information and analytic investments as the priorities needed to implement the agency’s strategic and preparedness plans. The committee did not take action at the hearing and deferred budget decisions for later committee work sessions.