Cities on the West Coast have passed laws designed to keep homeless people from dominating public spaces, especially in busy tourist and commercial districts. It’s plausible that stricter enforcement in those cities has driven some itinerant homeless people to Hawaii, where the weather is pleasant year-round, the populace is friendly and there is no state vagrancy law. We have no shortage of local-born residents who are homeless, of course, as well as Pacific migrants who end up that way. 

It all adds up to a growing problem that demands a multi-faceted strategy to solve. The time has come for Honolulu to enact stricter anti-loitering laws, which, coupled with expanded social services and greater access to affordable rentals under the Housing First model, should propel real headway on an intractable issue.

Portland, Tacoma, San Francisco and Seattle have banned sitting or lying down on public sidewalks in certain neighborhoods during certain times of day, with varying success against lawsuits claiming that such laws, known as "sit-lie ordinances," are unconstitutional and criminalize poverty and homelessness.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Seattle’s sit-lie law, on which Mayor Kirk Caldwell has wisely modeled the laudable measure he proposes to prevent people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks in the Waikiki Special District.

The proposed ban, which would be in effect 24 hours a day, provides numerous exceptions, including for parades and "expres- sive activity," a nod to protest speech protected by the First Amendment.

A second Caldwell bill would prohibit urinating and defecating in public areas, including privately owned areas open for public use, in that district.

The timing is right for such legislation on Oahu, and it is reasonable to start in Waikiki, the engine of Hawaii’s tourist economy. The city began its "compassionate disruption" campaign with crews clearing Oahu sidewalks of homeless people’s property; those efforts have not been enough. These new proposals would give police the tools they need to confront chronic loiterers. If successful, enforcement could expand to Chinatown and other areas with serious problems associated with homelessness; the goal should be to divert offenders to social services, not jail, a promising idea floated separately by GOP gubernatorial candidate Duke Aiona.

When it comes to the sit-lie bill, the mayor and City Council need to consider more than whether the measure will stand up in court. They also need to examine whether sit-lie laws are working in other cities, and by working we mean reducing the number of people existing on the streets and increasing the number of formerly homeless who are living in affordable rentals and accessing mental-health treatment, drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation, job training and the other social services they need to become productive citizens.

Seattle’s experience is instructive. The sit-lie ordinance alone did not compel much improvement; the vast majority of homeless people issued civil citations simply ignored them and defaulted on the fines, according to the Seattle Weekly. However, tangible progress was made when business owners who wanted to clean up downtown Seattle and homeless advocates who had fought past enforcement efforts coalesced around the Center City Initiative (CCI). Regular roundtable discussions helped social-service providers and civil libertarians recognize that people sleeping in doorways, camping in parks and relieving themselves in public are not only bad for business but also degrade the quality of life in Seattle. Business owners, in turn, faced the fact that it takes more than tough laws and street sweeps to address the roots of homelessness. As highly respected advocate Lisa Daugaard told the newspaper, "From a civil-liberties standpoint, (the CCI conversations have meant) that those of us who advocate for the rights of poor people are not fighting for the right of people to live on the sidewalk."

Honolulu needs a similar paradigm shift. Being homeless does not give someone "the right" to live in abject misery on the public square. Stepped-up enforcement that diverts offenders to social services and feasible housing, not jail, is a path to a long-term solution in Waikiki. The City Council should pass these bills.