HOW HAWAI`I TREATS HAWAIIANS - PART TWO
Homeless population grows and grows and grows...
By Will Hoover - The Honolulu Advertiser
"I would say that 85 to 90 percent of the homeless here live on the beach parks," said Jo Jordan, who chairs the parks committee for the Wai`anae Coast Neighborhood Board.
Jordan said Maj. Michael Tamashiro of District 8 of the Ho-nolulu Police Department informed the board Tuesday that his officers recently counted 280 illegal campsites between Kahe Beach Park and Keawa`ula Bay.
"It's getting out of hand," board chairwoman Patty Teruya said later. "We no longer use the beaches, and it's sad because it's not safe."
Helen Eschenbacher of Kaimuki said she often visits the Wai'anae Coast when friends and relatives come to O'ahu. But after she tried to get a camping permit there several months ago, she was told none were available.
"There's no place to go camping or picnic anymore," Eschenbacher said. "It's awful that these people can take the island away from the rest of us. Give us back our beaches."
Tamashiro also told the board that police and other city and county departments are working to formulate a strategy to deal with the situation, according to Jordan.
Tamashiro could not be contacted for this story.
Authorities are faced with the dilemma of meeting taxpayer demands for public beach recreational and campsite access, and contending with a homeless population that — because it has no alternative — simply moves to a different beach or park when police enforce statutes against living in public areas.
"It's like kicking an anthill," said Will Ford, an area outreach case manager for U.S. Vets, a program that assists homeless veterans. "They just spread out everywhere and then bunch up someplace else."
Police, frustrated with chasing the same homeless people from beach to beach, helped initiate the grassroots "Camp Hope" proposal that residents rejected in 2003.
Since then they've all watched the problem worsen.
To Be Continued...
