Homeless going back to sites the city cleared
Jamm Aquino / jaquino@staradvertiser.com
A man named Vito ate his dinner, a Reese’s peanut butter cup, as he gathered his belongings near his tent on Ohe Street on Monday.
At least 50 people continue to camp along the parks and sidewalks of Kakaako makai despite ongoing efforts by state and city officials to move the homeless elsewhere.
On Monday afternoon, at least a dozen tents and tarps dotted the lawns of two Kakaako “gateway” parks abutting Ohe Street, along both sides of Ilalo Street.
Several street dwellers told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that after being pushed out of Kewalo Basin and Kakaako Waterfront Park the week before Christmas by the state for violating night park closure laws, they returned to the sidewalks along Ohe — where they had been ousted in the preceding weeks for running afoul of the city’s sidewalk nuisance and stored property ordinances — and been left alone for the most part.
On Monday morning, they said, they were told by authorities it was OK to pitch their tents in the two parks as long as they stayed off the sidewalks, even though there are signs on trees in the parks clearly stating they are closed from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. daily.
Charade Keane said the constant uprooting has been stressful for her and her boyfriend, who works at a regular job, especially during the holidays. It’s been even tougher for the families around her that have young children, she said.
Keane said she’s finally agreed, with the coaxing of a social worker from Safe Haven Honolulu, to move into a unit in Chinatown. She and her boyfriend will need to live separately for a while, but she feels the urge to take the plunge now. If successful in the move, Keane said, “Then I can come back and tell the others here it’s OK to do it.”
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She’d like to be able to trust government officials who assure her they’re trying to help, Keane said, but she finds it difficult to do when “you guys keep pushing (solutions) off like it’s not an emergency.”
Scott Morishige, Gov. David Ige’s coordinator on homelessness, said plans to convert a 5,000-square-foot maintenance shed near Kakaako Waterfront Park into a temporary transitional shelter are on pace to be completed in February. The 24-hour facility is expected to accommodate 60 individuals or 15 families at a time, with stays of up to 90 days. The focus will likely be on serving families, he said.
Beyond that, Morishige said, the state is continuing to work with contracted social workers to provide the Kakaako homeless “continued outreach on a regular basis into that area … making sure we’re offering anyone who’s homeless in that area access to shelter as well as other housing resources.”
Recently, five families that had been living in the Kewalo Basin area were moved into permanent housing through the state’s Housing First program, which is aimed at the chronically homeless population, Morishige said.
The governor’s recent emergency proclamation allowed for funding of the program to be increased, he said.
“It can happen really quickly and we’ve seen some success stories,” he said. “It does take time for people to make the decision to transition out of homelessness and into housing.”
Meanwhile, the city conducted a block-by-block clearing of campers through the early fall and has continued to conduct “maintenance enforcement” along Ilalo, Ohe and nearby streets.
Ross Sasamura, the city’s facility maintenance director, said the aim is keeping the sidewalks clear. “Sidewalks are not a place for people to inhabit at any time,” but for people to travel, he said.
Sidewalk enforcement has been taking place in Kakaako makai “once a week at minimum,” and two times or more if needed — “depending on the availability of resources and other subsequent complaints,” he said.
Most recently, the city reported, enforcement actions were conducted in Kakaako Makai on Dec. 14 and again Dec. 17, storing no private property and removing 2.83 tons of trash. Sasamura said he did not know whether an action took place Monday morning.
97 responses to “Homeless going back to sites the city cleared”
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They are like cockroaches. They keep coming back no matter how many times you exterminate them.
“They” are not like “cockroaches”–they are, in fact, HUMAN BEINGS. “They keep coming back” as a result of the empty promises and false actions of the City/County and State Government. To date, the Mayor, the Governor, the Legislators, and the City/Council have not fulfilled any agreements and/or promises (save a modicum of housing) that they have publicly made. More political theatrics and more GRANDSTANDING in behalf of pubic-ratings–but, absolutely NO ACTION, per se… Oblalah is in town and should react to the Micronesian issues, on behalf of the failed Federal Government. One statement, rolling-off from his syrup-coated tongue, could/would immediately solve the Federal Government’s RESPONSIBILTIY regarding the Micronesian situation–that has been dumped on Hawaii.
No, they really are like cockroaches. Justmyview371 had it right.
I agree!
Agreed ! Cockroaches!
Who are these homeless? Were they offered shelter and refused or are they new homeless? My understanding was many were offered places in shelters before the last sweep.
The state and city should post signage that bans camping in the areas they have swept and cleaned.
So government OWES them housing? When does self-responsibility comes into play?
it would help if people realized that their situation can get better if they just took the opportunities available to them.
http://www.civilbeat.com/connections/from-a-homeless-shelter-in-honolulu-to-a-good-life-in-virginia/
So, they complain when the sweeps happen to them and then set themselves back up for the very same thing to happen in the very same place. Sweeps can’t be to bad on them then.
“as a result of the empty promises and false actions of the City/County and State Government.” >>> Guess what? It’s NOT the responsibility of govt to fix the results of these people’s loooong path of wrong decisions.
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work
and give to those who would not.”
— Thomas Jefferson
hawn – Mr. Jefferson never said that. It was attributed to something he supposedly said in 1896. The problem is that Mr. Jefferson died in 1826. That false quote was debunked decades ago, but folks like you just keep using it!
Nah cockroaches is right. Either help them or exterminate them, but get them out of our parks.
I would have more sympathy for them if they had no place left to go but there is room in the homeless shelters for these people.
More like bedbugs than roaches.
Roaches have survived millions of years of evolution. The homeless will also survive.
Cockoaches are programmed for survival even through a nuclear blast.
The homeless problem is deeper than Governor and the Mayor understand. They came from families with silver spoons in their mouths. But the homeless in turn have a victim attitude, “its not my fault”, well maybe it is if you use drugs, drink alcohol and do not follow rules.
FrieddyCat, the Mayor was born in Waipahu and grad from UH Law. Governor Ige is full-on middle class, did extremely well in public schools in Pearl City and earned an engineering degree at UH. You look very foolish mentioning silver spoons in their mouths. Please google their biography to gain insight on these men’s lives.
Mayor was a doctors son. Privileged childhood.
He a,so went to an east coast college.
Workingrl, privileged childhoods don’t occur in Waipahu and public school. Also, the fact that Kirk attended Tufts and UH Law still doesn’t mean he had a privileged childhood. I know many people who attended Boston College, MIT, Dartmouth and NYU who enjoyed middle-class childhoods. East Coast colleges are not privy to rich families alone. FWIW, silver spoons are not that common. They belong to royalty or super rich families in the top 2 percent of personal wealth, not middle or upper-middle class.
Envy is one of the seven deadly sins, no?
Do the colleges have a class on how to accept bribes?
I’m sure that’s cover in depth at the Richardson School of Politics at Manoa.
Neither the inept Mayor nor the leaderless Governor has a clue what to do and both look ridiculous.
The homless team made up of our mighty leaders are now back in each of their corners, spinning all of their wheels separately. There is no team work, was all for the press release phto-op back in october or september. Agree totally with alliie, they havent a clue . Perhaps they should ask the guy on vacation in kailua?
I don’t think that guy has a clue either.
It’s also possible that those who say our leaders don’t have a clue don’t have a clue.
Take over a golf course using “Eminent Domain,” any golf course will do. Build high rise apartments using storage containers (search Google for images), or use large 3D printers to build housing like being done in China (again, search Google), using current building codes. Housing units would only be for homeless, with areas divided for single and family uses. Using same construction, add offices for administration, security, and health services. Also, add buildings for the now non-homeless to use for training/work in various skills, such as an automotive repair shop, grocery store, etc. The businesses would employee only the resident now non-homeless, but the goods and services could be provided to the general public. Money generated would be used to pay the now non-homeless workers, and facility maintenance. Also, a large portion of the land could be used for agriculture, to grow vegetables, fruits, and houseplants, etc., with related jobs just for the now non-homeless. There will be some that are incapable, or too stubborn to participate, and their issues can be handles on a case-by-case basis. The main things are that they homeless would have housing away from the business/vacation areas, be isolated in a secured, maintained area, and they’d provided with a respectable place to live and work, access to healthcare, and assistance in re-establishing their lives. And, STRICTLY enforce any further panhandling/vagrancy laws! No more nonsense. It would cost some money up front, but is far better solution than throwing money away doing sweeps.
My puppies are on vacation. Ask them.
Allie says that the homeless are smarter than our elected leaders.
true
Yup! the have been around since the Dinosaurs age. Trouble is Not Governor or Mayor, but the ACLU – we can not Force The Hobos/Vagrants to take care of themselves The LAW to allow us to do that was rescinded because of the ACLU (commies)
They are all moving to Kaneohe. I have noticed new homeless people on the windward side. Get them out of here. Here comes the drugs.
Maybe the bus service is better in Kaneohe. Kailua buses are jammed with tourist.
Whoever is running this circus, needs to understand that you have to act quickly with the Homeless. They know the game and play it well. Every night they have to get out there and move them out. Find them a safe place whether it be Sand Island or somewhere else. Act quickly and “have a plan”
We are on the third ring of this circus. The suffering.
There are some folks, that I can’t for the life of me imagine how they are able to stay there. They have built with wood, an enclosure under the bridge, visible coming from the airport on Nimitz as you come from under H1 and merging to Nimitz. It looks like a small apartment they have built using the overpass as a roof. There always is a fairly decent looking car parked out front as well. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is up with that ? No Rent, No Utilities and a mighty strong roof over their head. Now that’s living in Paradise.
They’ve been there since the “80s. I worked in that area and they are just a royal pain in the back side.
Well, they should be royal pains to the staff and management at OCCC already. It’s obvious they don’t obey the law.
Give them a trespass notice and then arrest them for violations.
agree
I like that but what happens after they are arrested?
Then they can rest in jail.
That’s only done to taxpaying fools who work for a living, pay excessive rent and take personal responsibility. Sorry.
Bumper sticker: I owe. I owe so off to work I go.
I knew from the beginning that homeless sweeps is not the answer. Now look our money is being wasted on bad decisions of our great leaders that have no clue on what’s going on. Look at all the projects going on around us. We are losing money on all of them.
Don’t be so hard on them. For many folks living pay check to pay check, and with taxes going up to pay for Rail and wages stalled, they are not far off from also being homeless.
With the endless GET increase and eventual property tax increase to pay for rail, there will be more homeless. Maybe they can camp in the rail stations, if they ever get finished being built.
I see many homeless with a smartphone plan.
Smart, very smart…
Responding to just the title….Of course they are.
Absolutely. There will always be a segment of the homeless population that will not accept shelter. We all know that, so this should come as no surprise. Since we cannot force them into shelter all we can do is make sure they do not set up an encampment. So the sweeps just go on and on. Its not that the government has no clue, I suspect they know that this population of homeless exists and throughout the history of Honolulu there has always been homeless people who chose not to live in housing. So in fact this is no news at all, and it is not a symbol of government failure or neglect. Its a phenomenon that is a part of our society and has been for decades. Everyone just needs to relax and let the system go on. Sweeps will continue because the government will have to prevent the establishment of large encampments in urban Honolulu, those that do not want to go to shelter will remain on the streets by their own choice, the media will continue to cover the story in a way that will be sympathetic to the homeless because that’s what they do.
Very well thought out; well written.
Mahalo and Happy Holidays Cheesy. I feel for the locals that became homeless in Waianae. They pretty much inherited poverty. Choosing solidarity way out there must have been nice back when you could just live day to day off the land. These people never made the transition to real jobs. Where does one find work in Waianae? Once the land is taken away by government and development where do they go? Where would you go? What would your state of mind be? Bitter or up to the challenge of making a new life in town where you neither belong or are accepted? Do we treat them like disobedient pets? Pests? I believe we have 4 choices. Help them, ignore them, jail them, or exterminate and destroy them. These are human beings. Let’s think about this as fellow residents of Hawaii. They may not deserve it but it may be better to give them a confined designated area much like Indian reservations. Problem is we live on tiny islands. Politicians better start looking at Kahoolawe as viable right now!
And like the hobos of the past, those homeless you describe will soon be riding the rails here too.
If there is space available in a shelter, whoever is caught camping on the sidewalks should be arrested. Immediately, not next week, or next month, not after this study or that decision making meeting. Sweeps should be conducted EVERY night, not every month or every two months or whenever the mayor feels a need to appease the public. The only way to deal with this problem is by being consistent. And that guy in the picture? Looks able bodied to me. Either put him in a shelter and put him to work, or arrest him and put him in jail.
Agree. The only solution for homeless is for those able bodies to get jobs, and those with mental or other illnesses to get treatments. House them in shelters but they must abide by rules (absolutely no drugs/alcohol) and perform labor work (i.e. cleaning the parks, sidewalks) to pay for their rent. They must learn to be responsible.
The homeless have been a problem since before Christ but how can this happen in such large numbers in this day and age full of wondrous technology in the US of A? Our government spends billions abroad for poorer countries and wars to protect others but neglect our less fortunate Americans at home? More refugees? Is there something wrong with this picture? Our leaders have brought us to a point in history where our great nation cannot sustain jobs and support for it’s own people. Blah blah thanks for reading my rant. Happy New Year everyone….
Worse now due to larger split between rich and poor, and the fact many middle class are falling into the poor class due to stagnation of what was once a “working class” wage. And that to the fact our politicians keep raising taxes pushes more peeps to homelessness. LA has a homeless camp of something like 100,000 peeps.
Wow! 100,000! I agree that closing the wage gap is one of the solutions as well as population control. The rich must agree to pay the poor more which may happen but government will never agree to population control since it needs people to feed the tax ponzies.
100,000 people? That’s a lot for my puppies to sniff out.
If you want to get serious about homelessness, you have to bring the stick along with the carrot. Enough with trying to “cajole” them into shelters. That is too slow and frankly, will not work with many. Sad to say you’ll need to force them to move for their own good. The detriment needs to be greater.
Can we send the rest of them out there?
My solution:
Take over a golf course using “Eminent Domain,” any golf course will do. Build high rise apartments using storage containers (search Google for images), or use large 3D printers to build housing like being done in China (again, search Google), using current building codes. Housing units would only be for homeless, with areas divided for single and family uses. Using same construction, add offices for administration, security, and health services. Also, add buildings for the now non-homeless to use for training/work in various skills, such as an automotive repair shop, grocery store, etc. The businesses would employee only the resident now non-homeless, but the goods and services could be provided to the general public. Money generated would be used to pay the now non-homeless workers, and facility maintenance. Also, a large portion of the land could be used for agriculture, to grow vegetables, fruits, and houseplants, etc., with related jobs just for the now non-homeless. There will be some that are incapable, or too stubborn to participate, and their issues can be handles on a case-by-case basis. The main things are that they homeless would have housing away from the business/vacation areas, be isolated in a secured, maintained area, and they’d provided with a respectable place to live and work, access to healthcare, and assistance in re-establishing their lives. And, STRICTLY enforce any further panhandling/vagrancy laws! No more nonsense. It would cost some money up front, but is far better solution than throwing money away doing sweeps.
Must be Caldwell ‘ s carousel project with the homeless?
Now I finally understand why public schools teach us how to play with the musical chairs.
Let’s install beer keg dispensers and and pass out free pakalolo at the shelters I am sure that will encourage them to move into the shelters.
Put them on a round the world cruise ship with no booze or smokes, provide job training and teach them to take care of the ship…..if they go crazy, toss them overboard or leave them in a foreign port with no passport?…..cheaper than all the government bennies?
…know. You might mistaken Hawaii for a third country, foreign country.
If it’s PBR, we’ll have a $ hit load of hipsters at those shelters…
Hein… IPA beer for me, baby.
This doesn’t surprise anyone does it?
No. Everyone knew it would happen.
What’s the problem?? Simple solution- Sweep Homeless from breaking laws again!!! After X amount of unpaid citations “Jail Time”. It will make outsiders think twice about coming to Hawaii and try to make a living being homeless in paradise. Homeless should follow the same rules and laws as people with homes.
These people will NEVER get ahead in their quest for “affordable” housing on Oahu. Their plight will be perpetual here. Might as well have homeless in Beverly Hills “trying” to get ahead there.
http://www.civilbeat.com/connections/from-a-homeless-shelter-in-honolulu-to-a-good-life-in-virginia/
I can afford a house, but dad gave me his for free.
I feel for the indigenous locals that became homeless in Waianae. They pretty much inherited poverty. Choosing solidarity way out there must have been nice back when you could just live day to day off the land. These people never made the transition to real jobs. Where does one find work in Waianae? Once the land is taken away by government and developers where do they go? Where would you go? What would your state of mind be? Bitter or up to the challenge of making a new life in town where you neither belong or are accepted? Do we treat them like disobedient pets? Pests? I believe we have 4 choices. Help them, ignore them, jail them, or exterminate and destroy them. These are human beings. Let’s think about this as fellow residents of Hawaii. They may not deserve it but it may be better to give them a confined designated area much like Indian reservations. Problem is we live on tiny islands. Politicians better start looking at Kahoolawe as viable right now!
Saveparadise. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Dispite. my lack of education, I tried my best before asking for help. Not bad for a GED educated millionaire.
Mikey, what lessons in life did you learn along the way? Did you learn to share? Humility is not your strong point. I get your message and these people need more than just charity. Just as we would never fit into their world they do not fit in ours. Either we try to convert them or cast them out.
The latter sounds good to me. Cast them out. You suggested it.
I feel like a loser living here in Honolulu, with the lack of leadership from the top.
Recidivism at its best.
Politicians or the homeless??
All of the above.
Force them out of there and impound their tents – prevent them from camping on public land. If the same people continue returning, throw them into jail.
We would shoot the homeless, too, but it’s the friendly fire onto the general public that is preventing this ordinance from passing?
The goal, first and foremost, is to stop the influx of mainland homeless from relocating here. Then we can distribute our limited resources to local individuals and families. I’ve volunteered at IHS and River of Life. So many mainland individuals with luggage tags still on their bags getting free food and services. If I were to speculate, our local homeless population has remained the same but Hawaii is attracting more out-of-state homeless than before.
Programs like Housing First certainly helps to promote Hawaii as the premier homeless destination. If you abuse drugs, Hawaii will give you free housing. And you can continue your drug use in your new house! Talk about living the american dream…
So many scumbags commenting on here. These are PEOPLE. Have we no compassion? Are we all so far removed from the possibility of not having a home or a job that we can look down our noses at people who are struggling? What kind of aloha spirit is that?
I have a college degree and a job. I’m a SINGLE paycheck away from being homeless. One mistake at work or one extended period of illness and I could be living on the street.
Everyone here calling these people cockroaches, talking about impounding their belongings, or deigning to believe that only drugs, alcohol, and poor choices got these people where they are can go pound sand. You’re a disgrace.
And my guess is that you would head straight for a shelter and start rebuilding your life. Those who won’t need to be forced to.
?? And this is a surprise – Duh
No deterrent, no surprise.
For their own good, put them in jail, and take all their belongings. In no time, you will find them off the streets and in shelters preparing for a better life.
Sometimes, tough love is the only way and we’ve reached that point (passed it actually).
Why is this news? This is what always happens. Maybe Caldwell can jump on his box again to say what a wonderful job he is doing with the homeless and the Mufi/Carlisle/Caldwell/City Council bottomless pit AKA Rail from nowhere to nowhere near UH.
Move them to the front lawn of City Hall and the State Capitol. I’m sure we’ll see Ige and Cauldwell respond quickly,
What would Haitler do?