Members of (de)Occupy Honolulu were returning to Thomas Square on Friday night despite the removal of their tents, furniture and other belongings by city workers during an enforcement action late Thursday night.
Officials, using the authority granted by two city ordinances, cleared the Ward Avenue-South Beretania Street corner of the park of pallets, tents, chairs, signs and other objects belonging to (de)Occupy Honolulu members. In all, the city seized 10 bins of items, city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said.
Two people asked human services personnel for help seeking emergency shelter, he said. One person, a 72-year-old man with no current address, was arrested on the scene on an unrelated outstanding warrant.
Facility maintenance workers, accompanied by Honolulu Police Department officers, conducted their action late at night because they were also enforcing the park closure law at Thomas Square, which formally shuts down at 10 p.m., said Broder Van Dyke.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell said the city prefers that property owners remove the items themselves as opposed to the city seizing the items.
The action was the first time the city used the Sidewalk Nuisance Ordinance at Thomas Square. The ordinance, formerly Bill 7, allows the city to summarily remove items deemed "nuisances" from city sidewalks with only a 15-minute notice. The Stored Property Ordinance, in place the last few years, allows the city to remove personal items left on city property with 24-hour advance notice.
The protesters had only a single tent at the Ward-Beretania intersection through much of Friday. But (de)Occupy Honolulu supporter Sugar Russell said, "More tents are on their way." Supporters were focused with tending to the arrested man, who has medical conditions, so were late replacing the tents, Russell said.
The group, which has been at the park since November 2011, is talking to its attorneys about challenging the need to pay a $200 fee to reclaim items under the Sidewalk Nuisance Ordinance, she said. The group also has established a hotline (805-669-TENT) for reporting raids and receiving information about legal rights, Russell said.
The city began enforcing the new law July 1 with sweeps on the Ala Wai promenade, Moiliili baseball park, Aala Park, River Street, Pawaa Inha Park and Kakaako.
Caldwell told reporters that the Thursday action was part of a larger effort to beautify Thomas Square but not directly related to the park’s 170th-anniversary celebration taking place Wednesday.
Over the next week there will be two celebrations at the park: one by Hawaiian sovereignty interests today and one sponsored by the city Wednesday. Following the seizure of the Hawaiian Islands by Lord George Paulet in February 1843, Adm. Richard Thomas, for whom the park is named, regained control July 31 and returned the Hawaiian government to Kamehameha III.
"Different Native Hawaiian societies" will take part in Wednesday’s celebration sponsored by the city, Caldwell said. Former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka will be the keynote speaker.
From noon to 5:30 p.m. today, the Ka La Hoihoi Ea event is being held at Thomas Square to commemorate the July 31, 1843, restoration of the monarchy; it is being put on by Hawaiian sovereignty activists and educators, cultural practitioners and community leaders.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Gregg K. Kakesako contributed to this report.
