Some homeless people in Waikiki say preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting are driving them away or forcing them into the residential areas where there are fewer patrols.

They said they believe that sweeps will intensify as the high-security APEC forum, which will bring President Barack Obama and the leaders of 20 other countries here in November, gets closer.

"I might relocate in a few weeks," said Scotty, a 47-year-old man who has lived on Waikiki streets for seven years. "Maybe I’ll go to the North Shore or the west side so I don’t get messed with until this thing is done. But I want to stay here. Waikiki is my home."

City and state leaders have denied that they have plans to drive homeless people from Waikiki before the gathering of world leaders.

However, Scotty said he has been arrested twice for trespassing recently and that others have received citations or gone to jail. Cleanups also have pushed homeless people out of Waikiki parks and other public places, he said, adding that some have lost belongings.

But Marc Alexander, Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s homeless coordinator, insisted that "our homeless effort has nothing to do with APEC," adding, "The city and county are also one with that."

During the last three months, the agencies that participated in the administration’s 90-Day Homeless Plan assisted about 75 homeless people from Waikiki into transitional or permanent housing, Alexander said.

Cleanups have occurred on public and private property, when owners asked for assistance with removing homeless people from their properties, he said.

It’s happened at the Ala Wai Canal near the recycling center, said state Rep.Tom Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako).

"Government tells you that they are ‘cleaning’ an area," Brower told the Waikiki Neighborhood Board at its August meeting. "I anticipate that we’ll see much more cleanup prior to APEC." 

WHILE HOMELESS people have long been attracted to Waikiki, the post-recession spike in their visibility has threatened Waikiki’s branding as a world-class resort area. Hotel industry executives, government leaders, tourists and residents say they are embarrassed when the situation is discussed on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and on online review and booking sites like TripAdvisor.

Government officials, meanwhile, have intensified efforts to extend help to the homeless population.

"It’s about tough love. We know that the homeless in Waikiki want to be there for the same reasons that you or I do," Alexander said. "But if we offer them food, bathrooms and a million-dollar view, there’s no reason to move. We have to make it a little uncomfortable so that they’ll get the help that they need."

Now, Waikiki’s homeless residents say that they feel pushed out. Some plan to leave the tourist mecca entirely. Others have said that they will look for opportunities to move deeper underground. A few said that Waikiki’s vacant lots and buildings offer opportunity to find undisturbed shelter.

"About two to three months ago, we really saw an increase in pressure," said a 34-year-old woman who spends her days in the shadow of the Hawai‘i Convention Center, where the international media and others will gather for APEC.

The woman, who declined to give her name because in better days she worked in Waikiki’s visitor industry, said she found herself on the streets after her unemployment benefits ended. Since then she has gotten three tickets for trespassing and was arrested once for shoplifting food, she said.

"People sit here and judge but they have no idea," the woman said. "When I worked at a hotel, I was totally unsympathetic when a homeless guy passed out in our bushes. I just wanted him to go away."

Since January she has taken refuge in a vacant commercial building, allowing her to disappear from public view. But she acknowledges that the solution is not ideal.

"It’s an old, empty building," the woman said. "I feel more protected in the park. I slept in a tent there for about two months, but they made me leave. They don’t want us dirtying up the beachfront view."

The woman said she advocates a safe zone with running water and electrical outlets where she and other homeless people could stay "hassle free" and not "all crammed up."

Some politicians, including Brower and state Reps. Rida Cabanilla and John Mizuno, have supported creating safe zones outside of Waikiki. But so far the measure has not advanced beyond a House resolution.

The woman said without any real solutions, more of homeless in Waikiki will move into vacant properties.

She knows that shelter space is available, but she doesn’t want to leave Waikiki or her fox terrier, Roscoe, for a bed in a warehouse with 120 other women.

And she said she does not want someone telling her when she can come or go and that she can’t use drugs.

"I want to do as I please," she said, holding up a thin arm and pointing to the message spelled out on her black rubber wristband.

"See, it says FREEDOM," she said. "That’s what I want. That’s what we all want."