Clear public spaces of encampments

Dozens of homeless people in Honolulu have been forced from their encampments this week — an overdue and needed government action — but many remain a step or more from transitional housing. The city and state appear to be working diligently to assure them space in shelters as an option but at the same time, there is a paradox in that many who remain adrift are tied down by their piles of belongings.

Homeless advocates and government officials are clearing the homeless away from sites in Waikiki, which Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation activities will dominate from Nov. 7 to 13, along with Old Stadium Park in Moiliili and Diamond Head. As many as 60 people had been living along a chain-link fence at Beretania Street across from Aala Skatepark, where the city removed the fence and four dump-truck loads of debris. The owner of that property plans to repave it and plant hedges where the fence had been. Staff from the Institute for Human Services helped the homeless remove their stuff from Beretania.

In a beautiful state struggling with the growing enclaves of unslightly, unsanitary encampments, there’s relief in seeing officials take action. The important dual message: To campers, that help is available if you also help yourselves; to the public, that public sites will be reclaimed to make them safe and sanitary again for all to use. Able-minded and -bodied squatters, especially, need to know that squatting indefinitely on public sites can’t grow unchecked.

From Aug. 22 to Sept. 2, state crews removed 90 homeless people and more than 60 truckloads of their belongings from 17 areas along Nimitz Highway and the H-1 freeway, along APEC travel routes to and from Honolulu Airport; the state estimated that cost $200,000, which included labor. This week, the state will spend an additional $100,000 to clear 17 homeless clusters along Nimitz Highway and the H-1 freeway.

Indeed, the clearings do not solve the deeper issues of homelessness, a multifaceted problem that will remain long after APEC is gone — but they are a needed start. Now that sizable sums of money and effort have been spent to reclaim these public spaces, vigilance must increase to prevent new encampments from rebuilding.

Honolulu’s City Council is now considering a proposal to ban storage of possessions on sidewalks, an idea worth pursuing.

Maintaining personal belongings has been a priority for many of the homeless, and some say they have been hindered in attempts to go to job interviews or seek medical care because they can’t leave their possessions unattended.

"Having to cart around their possessions is just another insurmountable barrier," Portland, Ore., Housing Commissioner Nick Fish told USA Today.

Honolulu and state agencies should consider a program initiated by Portland a year ago, following similar actions in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago. The program in Portland, where the homeless are provided access to their stored belongings, has been called a success.

St. Petersburg, Fla., has banned outdoor storage of personal belongings in public property while providing a 40-foot trailer with 192 bins for homeless people to keep and maintain access to their things. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this month rejected a claim that St. Petersburg’s ban of outdoor storage of personal belongings violates the U.S. Constitution.

In this week’s cleanup, Oahu’s homeless were given advance notice that they would be forced to abandon certain areas, allowing them time to remove their most valued possessions. As the City Council moves forward on its bill to ban storage of possessions on sidewalks — a meeting will be held Nov. 2 — it should consider that the mobility of many homeless, literally and figuratively, will be improbable unless an alternative for storing their things is provided.