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State Rep. Tom Brower, chairman of the Housing Committee, is touting the unprecedented
$570 million allocated to rental housing under his leadership as he seeks a seventh term representing Waikiki and Ala Moana.
But his opponent, Republican Kathryn Henski-Stark, who is challenging him for a second time, says residents of House District 22 deserve a new representative.
“The reason I’m running is that things are not happening the way they should in Ala Moana or Waikiki,” said Henski-Stark, a Waikiki Neighborhood Board member, citing homelessness and crime in the area.
Tackling the well-known incumbent Democrat is an uphill battle for Henski-Stark. In the 2016 election, Brower got almost twice as many votes.
He made national news in 2013 when he spent a few weeks using a sledgehammer to smash untended shopping carts used by homeless people. He returned some carts to stores but destroyed others to clean up the neighborhood and prompt action on homelessness, he said. “I’m more concerned about us making progress on this issue than my image,” said Brower, 53.
This legislative session, his housing proposals got more traction.
“One of our big accomplishments this year was a bill I authored for the largest housing appropriation the Legislature has ever provided,” Brower said. “The idea is to create 25,000 rental units by 2030. The intention is to help working people who can’t quite afford to buy a home.”
And the Senate’s homelessness bill includes an idea he has long championed: “safe zones” or “ohana zones” for homeless people who won’t go to shelters. The Senate bill includes
$30 million for pilot “ohana zones,” giving people an alternative to camping on sidewalks and in parks.
Henski-Stark, 68, questioned Brower’s approach.
“We are very different in how we handle the situation,” she said. “I don’t believe that the ohana zones that Tom is advocating is the way to go for the homeless population. I had a homeless shelter that was self-funded. We can do better than we’re doing.”
When she lived in Alaska, Henski-Stark operated a hostel that became a shelter for people stuck without a place to sleep or a meal.
“You couldn’t stay with me unless you went out to work” or were willing to pitch in somehow, she said. “It gives self-respect. I was able to get them to move on to homes.”
Henski-Stark is a former executive vice chairwoman of the Oahu Republican Party and serves on the board of directors of the Rotary Club of Waikiki. One of her goals is to eliminate the excise tax on food, which could save a typical family of four $1,000 a year, she said. And she hopes to beef up the police presence in her district.
“I remember Hawaii in 1975 when I could easily walk from Diamond Head to the Ala Wai Boat Harbor and never feel threatened and never feel afraid because we didn’t have the trends in crime, we didn’t have the homeless population so evident,” she said. “Did you know there are only eight officers per shift in Waikiki and only eight for Ala Moana? They handle 4,000 to 5,000 calls a month.”
She noted that police are a county issue, not a state issue, but added, “It is a job for a legislator to try and protect their district. That’s not being done.”
If re-elected, Brower said his plans include introducing a “right to know” bill informing residents if units in their buildings are being used as short-term vacation rentals.
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