South Maui, one of the fastest-growing areas in Hawai'i, is a mixture of luxury resort communities for the rich, modest condos, and residential subdivisions for working-class families and retirees. The district, also home to a large number of mainland transplants, has elected a Republican to the state House of Representatives in the past six elections.

But the incumbent, Chris Halford, is stepping down, putting the 11th House seat up for grabs.

Running to keep the district in the Republican column are attorney Graham Mottola and computer industry retiree Tony Fisher, who will face each other in the Sept. 23 primary. Squaring off on the Democratic ballot are greenways advocate Joe Bertram III and hotel worker Stephen West.

'PROBLEM SOLVER'

Fisher, a spry 73 years old, said property tax reform and advocacy for the elderly are two of his passions. He is an officer in the Committee for More Equitable Taxation group and is a former president of the South Maui AARP chapter. Since property taxes are a county issue, Fisher said that if elected to the state Legislature he would devote much of his efforts toward helping senior citizens.

"My No. 1 issue is that I would like to 'age in place' gracefully and live out my life in my house," said Fisher, describing the desires of many older voters.

He said he would push for tax credits for people who provide care to elderly family members and for wheelchair ramps and other home improvements that would allow the aged to stay longer in their homes.

As a former community college instructor, Fisher also has an interest in education. He favors local school boards, but said that instead of overhauling the entire education system at once, a three- to five-year pilot program should be started in Maui County to see if a local board brings improvements.

Fisher calls himself an "independent Republican" who is at odds with Gov. Linda Lingle on some labor matters and with President Bush on the privatization of Social Security and other issues. He said he's already worked with many Democratic lawmakers on several issues, including a measure that would clear the way for seniors who participate in safe-driving classes to get auto insurance discounts.

"The most important thing I would bring to the Legislature is that I am someone who tries to make things work. I am a problem solver," said Fisher, whose campaign fliers urge voters to "put a tiger in the House."

"I'm not a person to watch TV and nap in the afternoon. I'm upbeat and positive."

REHAB PROPONENT

As a criminal defense attorney who helped establish the Maui Drug Court, Mottola, 46, has strong opinions about prison policies. He suggests changing laws to grant judges more flexibility and creativity in sentencing, which he says would eliminate the need to ship many inmates to off-island prisons.

He likes the idea of a "boot camp" program for certain offenders who need to learn the basic discipline and responsibility necessary to succeed in drug treatment and other rehabilitation programs. "Many people who are placed directly into drug court fail because they have not been through a boot camp first. The purpose of putting someone into drug court is not to have them fail and then go to prison. I know we can come up with solutions that will significantly reduce recidivism and can get people to remain clean and sober from crystal methamphetamine," he said.

On education, Mottola said schools could be improved by providing funding for maintenance and repairs, more effective student discipline policies, and more autonomy for principals.

"I believe that principals should be, in essence, like an individual school board for their school and should have the responsibility for running the school and answering to parents, the community and one school (superintendent) regarding the way that school runs. ... Principals who run their schools well should be rewarded, while principals who cannot should be subject to demotion to vice principal or back to teaching classes," he said.

"The Department of Education is composed of a large bureaucracy of administrators, when the best place for decision-making is on each individual campus (and with) the principal, who should report directly to the superintendent."

The savings from bureaucratic downsizing could be directed to school campuses and teacher salaries, he said. Like the other three candidates in the race, Mottola said he would work to ensure adequate funding and expedient construction of a new high school in Kihei, which already has received $700,000 in planning money from the state.

SCHOOLS SUPPORTER

With two young daughters, education is a priority for the Democrat West, too.

Public schools aren't receiving enough financial support, he said, and students are being forced to share textbooks while teachers use their own money to buy supplies and meals for students. West, 41, has been working with the Apollo Alliance on solar energy programs, and said if such systems could be installed at schools, the resulting savings could be used for air-conditioning and other campus improvements.

The alliance is a national movement that links job creation, environmental stewardship and energy independence. "For too long we've had to choose between jobs vs. the environment, and that's a bad choice to have to make," he said.

Affordable housing and providing workers with "a living wage" are other priorities for West, an ILWU official at the two Wailea resorts where he works.

"On Maui, there is a huge gap between the housing prices, which have been inflated by Mainland speculation, and residents' wages, which reflect a primarily poorly paid, service-oriented economy based on tourists. This problem needs to be addressed on both ends: affordable housing and a living wage."

The state should provide land for housing through leases or other means, and offer tax incentives to encourage "sweat equity" home construction, in which residents help build their own houses.

OPEN-SPACE MAN

Bertram, 49, a former Maui Planning Commission member, is well known for his work toward establishing green belts, open spaces, bikeways and coastal management plans on the island. If elected, Bertram said he would push for state and federal funding to implement the myriad greenway and open space planning documents drafted in recent years.

"We've made all these plans, it's been done. We need to get these master plans off the shelf and get the funds to implement them," he said.

Maui's public transit system needs more funding for expansion and such basic components as benches and bus stop shelters, according to Bertram. Harking back to the Valley Isle's plantation heritage, he said he would like to see small-gauge railroads re-established on Maui for public transportation, which could be almost entirely supported by revenues from visitors.

The railroads would be cheaper and more easily built than light rail and other transportation modes that have been debated on O'ahu over the years, he said.

"You can put it anywhere. We need to think outside of the box about re-establishing what we had before. There were small towns and people walking and biking, with trains that connected everything. We need to get back to that."

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.