Posted on: Monday, November 15, 2004

EDITORIAL
What aloha? We're 'mean' to homeless

We should be grateful to the National Coalition for the Homeless for making us look bad only days before Homeless Awareness Week, which begins today. Really, without a periodic shove from outside, would we ever change?

This year, the coalition has tagged Hawai'i as the third "meanest" state, and Honolulu the ninth "meanest" city, in the nation in terms of how we treat our homeless population.

In its report titled "Illegal to be Homeless: The Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States," the coalition says it has mathematical criteria for ranking localities on the severity of their mistreatment of homeless people.

We're not certain how accurate this system is, but that's not the point. We also understand that the organization has little interest in patting people on the back for their efforts on behalf of the homeless; its job is to improve conditions as they exist.

6,000 seeking shelter

The point is that Hawai'i is known nationally as a "mean" place to be poor or homeless. And on any given night, about 6,000 of us — yes, us — are looking for someplace reasonably warm and dry to sleep.

We say "us" because most people don't choose to be homeless, and because thousands of Hawai'i residents are no more than a single paycheck away from homelessness.

Clearly what made Honolulu jump from 19th place in the survey last year to 9th place this year was passage of a state law — Act 50 — that bans homeless individuals from living on all public property.

This law has drawn national attention as one of the severest penalties to discourage people from living on public property. The law charges an individual with criminal trespass in the second degree if he or she enters or remains on public property after receiving a written request to leave.

$1,000 fine

The law bans individuals for a year from public areas where they are cited. Violation of the ban can lead to arrest and a $1,000 fine or up to 30 days in jail.

How does Senate President Robert Bunda, who introduced the bill, think homeless people will come up with $1,000? And if homeless people can't sleep on public property, just where does he think they will sleep?

Honolulu is a mean city for the poor and homeless. We've been watching with horror for years as police and city and state officials roust the homeless from beaches and parks without ever suggesting where they might be welcomed or tolerated.

Their belongings are thrown away by park maintenance workers during the day if they are out looking for work.

A'ala Park and Waimanalo Beach Park and others are closed down for months for upgrades without thought of what happens to their homeless denizens.

Barbed wire is placed under highway bridges and around the Nimitz viaduct to keep homeless people from living there.

Other cities worse

It could be worse. According to the report, the city of Fresno, Calif., has a barbed-wire-topped "drunk tank" where the derelicts it arrests can be put on public display. People in Tampa, Fla., were arrested for serving food to homeless people. "Atlanta's Ambassador Force, assisted by police, operates a 'Wake Up Atlanta' team to roust homeless people from any public or private space and arrest them if there is a delay."

We're not suggesting Hawai'i and Honolulu are doing nothing about this problem. The city is providing $5.3 million for a homeless transitional housing project in Wai'anae. The state is creating a task force after it received a report saying it's lacking 30,000 affordable homes.

What we are suggesting is that we're not doing nearly enough.

The problem has worsened dramatically, overwhelming social-service agencies across the state and threatening to put numbers at an all-time high. Homelessness experts say government has been slow to act and that decision-makers do not realize how drastic the situation has become.

A source of shame

The number of people living in Hawai'i's public parks, beaches and streets has just about doubled since 2000. In Hawai'i — the Aloha State, for heaven's sake — that must be a source of great shame.