With Mayor Jeremy Harris entering his final seven months in office, any delay virtually guarantees that a long-term solution to homelessness will have to come from the next administration. That means more time lost against a problem that has worsened by 61 percent in the past three years, according to government figures.

"We took the initiative to say, 'Here is one possibility, but if you don't fund it then there is no solution,' " Lee said. "I don't mind task forces and committees, but there is a certain point where there is paralysis by analysis. You can study it to death and nothing happens."

The City Council has taken steps to funnel the $15.3 million in federal money to other projects for the needy after the city was notified by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development that its project didn't qualify for the money as described in the request for proposals.

With $5.3 million in HUD money allocated last year expected to lapse by the end of the year, the council felt it had to act. The other $10 million was allocated this year.

"The whole transitional homeless thing was not working and we didn't want to lose the money," said Council Budget Committee Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi. The money is being diverted to projects that will help provide services and permanent housing for the poor, elderly and mentally ill — some of them homeless, Kobayashi said.

Lee said the homeless transitional residential center is not permanent housing but would help homeless people. He also said the administration is not giving up yet.

"I think the mayor would be disappointed (if it dies) because we think that the council needs to look at every solution and not just dispel one versus another," Lee said. "They need to move in parallel with any ideas to solve the homeless (issue). It's easy for them to shoot holes and say, 'No, we don't think it will work,' but what is their solution?"

Lee said "reprogramming" the $5.3 million already committed to the project is illegal without the mayor's consent and then only if the money is in jeopardy, according to the City Charter. Lee said the administration is moving forward with a new request for proposals that addresses HUD's concerns and will begin the work before the money lapses.

The City Council will hold a final vote on the money Friday and if the reprogramming is upheld, which Kobayashi said is likely, the homeless center project will be dead.

Kobayashi said the entire $15.3 million has been reprogrammed, or diverted, to projects that do meet HUD guidelines.

"We are reprogramming not only this year's money, but last year's money," said Kobayashi. "The administration wanted to extend the deadline for the RFP, but (their project) is not going to work. We need permanent supportive housing."

Homeless providers have said the city's plan for a "one-stop center" doesn't work because it provides no money for programs once the facility is built and does not include permanent housing.

"That one-stop center is bad policy," said Rebecca Anderson, homeless grant coordinator with the Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i. "The fact that it doesn't include operating costs. ... You can build something, but how are you going to run it every day? It is based on a policy model that has been proven not to work."

Nationwide, the emphasis is on permanent housing with support services, and a plan developed by the State Homeless Policy Academy to end homelessness in Hawai'i in 10 years supports that goal.

Deputy city managing director Malcolm Tom said the mayor envisioned a "campus-like facility" where homeless people could live until given appropriate healthcare and job-training services and then helped to find a home of their own.

More than a year ago, Harris announced the homeless facility project and the city published a request for proposals for the project in March. The April 19 deadline for proposals was extended to May 19, but no final proposals were submitted because the request for proposals was canceled because of HUD's concerns, Tom said.

"We thought it was a win-win for everybody," Tom said. "The community would want it, those involved in (homeless services) would look at it as an expansion of their facilities, and we are addressing the homeless issues. Unfortunately, we will look at a scaled-down facility."

Lynn Maunakea, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, said the emergency shelter turns people away every night and whatever is finally decided, she hopes that much-needed permanent housing is included.