Off The News: Raising Waiahole rents after 15 years
Waiahole Valley residents are no strangers to controversy. A half-century ago, the community was a crucible for the fledgling Hawaiian rights movement, this one centered on protests against evictions.
Now that prospect is on the view screen again, with some tenants resisting the state’s bid to charge a sixfold increase on rents, currently at $98 monthly for a residential lot, which hasn’t changed in 15 years. We’ll see what happens, but these days, that kind of increase seems more than reasonable.