The homeless problem in Chinatown will continue to grow because political leadership is dysfunctional and fearful. Politicians have passed laws that many homeless people violate every day with impunity.

The lawbreakers should be thrown into jail, but then our jails cannot hold all the lawbreakers, right? The optics of hauling the homeless off to jail is bad. But there really is no choice.

For starters, what if there was a place like the Oahu Community Correctional Center available? OCCC would have to be improved so that a smorgasbord of social and medical services and personnel would be available, 24/7.

Civil rights of the homeless would not be violated. The courts and appropriate organizations would protect and watch over this process very closely. I believe that we are capable of achieving all of this. If not, then the homeless problem will mirror all the other major problems we now have in Hawaii, like the rail and vacation rental issues. Ouch!

Art Lee

Kalama Valley

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