Issue Position: Homeless

Issue Position

Homelessness needs to be approached on several fronts because there are different kinds of homeless problems.

1. We should consider open-area "safe zones" with restroom facilities for the homeless who are now in our parks and on our sidewalks because they decline to move into transitional shelters (some because of mental illness, drug problems, pets or refusal to follow shelter rules). This is better than forcing them to move from place to place whenever their presence becomes intolerable and public complaints arise.
2. There are hundreds of families in transitional shelters - Kakaako, Waianae, Ewa - whose adults hold jobs, children attend public schools, and simply cannot afford homes. We need to add to our supply of government-supported low-income housing. And we need to end Hawaii's negative distinction of being one of only three states that tax poverty-level working families (a family of three making as little as $19K per year is taxed at the same level as everyone else). This adds to the difficulty of their moving out of the poverty level into middle income.

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