A proposed city ban on "aggressive" panhandling near ATMs and check-cashing businesses is one more sign of the problems associated with the growing population of Waikiki homeless.

The proposed ban, which will get a first reading at the City Council today, was introduced by Councilman Charles Djou, who sponsored the bill after the Waikiki Neighborhood Board voted 10-6 last month to seek such a ban.

The neighborhood board also voted to support an anti-loitering law, and members of the board complained about abusive behavior among some homeless people in the area.

While there is no question the public must be protected from abusive and aggressive conduct, enacting more laws is not necessarily the answer in dealing with problems caused by homeless people, particularly those who live on the street because of mental health or drug-abuse problems.

That's something the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association clearly understands. This summer, the association donated $25,000 to the Waikiki Health Center to fund a social worker who can focus on the homeless community.

As Jan Yamane, executive director of the association, told Advertiser reporter Mary Vorsino last month, the funding for a social worker was a means of contributing to a solution in what is a very complex problem. The association is hoping to make inroads in reducing the homeless population.

Business and community interests in Waikiki have seen that they need to take a lead in solving the problem, particularly as the number of homeless, who have been pushed out of other areas in the city, have migrated to Waikiki.

The Waikiki Neighborhood Board and the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association are looking for broadly targeted solutions.

Let's hope the City Council will take the same tack. Councilman Djou is being responsive to a request from the neighborhood board. But the council should also recognize the need to not just push the homeless away, but to be part of the effort to find solutions to this systemic problem.

Residents, Kapi'olani Park users and tourists should be able to enjoy Waikiki without being accosted or being fearful. And the homeless need a safe haven and our help.

Helping support social service efforts, in the long run, is a better approach than narrowly targeted new laws. Let's go after long-term fixes, not quick fixes.