Bill would limit tenants’ years in public housing
STAR-ADVERTSER / AUG. 2012
Mayor Wright Homes resident Right Tongeni trimmed the grass by his unit.
State lawmakers are considering limiting the number of years people can live in public housing if they agree to an incentive program in advance, hoping to create more movement in a system with a years-long waiting list.
By accepting a seven-year limit, potential tenants on the waiting list would get priority to move into apartments. They’d have their monthly rent frozen at the lowest possible level, instead of tying their rent to income.
Democratic State Rep. Sylvia Luke, chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, wants to encourage people to move out of public housing to make room for people living on the streets.
“We really needed a lot of turnover in all areas, including the shelters and the public housing, for us to transition people who are homeless” into housing, Luke told The Associated Press. “There’s very little incentive for people who are living in public housing to leave.”
There were 13,645 people on the statewide public housing waitlist on Wednesday, said Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, chief planner for the Hawaii Public Housing Authority. It can take up to five years to get to the top of the list, according to the housing authority’s website. The turnover rate in Hawaii’s public housing is about 4 percent annually, which provides virtually no way for people to get in, Luke said.
Typically, the rent amount in public housing is equal to a third of a tenant’s income, or a minimum amount such as $128 per month for a two-bedroom apartment — whichever amount is greater, Luke said. Some public housing tenants with jobs pay about $1,000 a month, while others may pay a tenth of that to live in an equivalent space.
The policy discourages some people from pursuing higher-income jobs, because their rent goes up with their earnings, Luke said.
That’s what Luke wants to change. Under her proposal, HB2638, people who agree to the seven-year time limit would have their rent frozen at the minimum amount and could open a savings account and the state would match their saved money when they move out.
“To be incentivized to work and earn and get higher incomes is always a good thing, especially if folks are expected to eventually go out to the regular marketplace to find housing,” said Ed Cabrera, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “But knowing what I know about Hawaii, there aren’t that many places that can compete in terms of housing market unaffordability.”
Rios Nickepwi, a high school senior who grew up in public housing at Mayor Wright Homes in Honolulu, said it would be hard for people to improve their lives if they were displaced.
“We’re on a rock, so we can’t really move,” Nickepwi said, referring to the island state’s limited land.
Cabrera said he knows of no other state that has set time limits on public housing.
66 responses to “Bill would limit tenants’ years in public housing”
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Gee, now I want to be on the waiting list under Luke’s proposal.
I rather wait for Jesus, coming soon.
Try School St. There’s a big sign to guide him in, just mauka of Love’s Bakery.
Middle Street, no?
There’s no need to incentivize anything, you simply put a limit on the length of time they can receive the particular benefit. It would be no different than what they do now for welfare benefits (5 yr. limit). Annual reviews could be conducted so that those that begin to earn more than the limit are move out as well to make way for those less fortunate. It’s not fair that some people are able to receive never ending rental subsidies while others have to wait for them to move out or die before they get their chance.
The problem is enforcement. Once in, nobody wants to leave. Look at current public housing and you will see that.
How many time do we have to tell, allie, no bison allowed in the public housing?
You need to change your name to Mikeihavetoomuchtimeonmyhands.You
I hope that you also become a millionaire so that you can retire early, too.
Already am brah but when I retire I wont spend all day posting inane comments here.
If you have the right mindset and values, you will want to move out of there. It is not a good place for kids to grow up.
The problem is incentive to leave too. If they limit the number of years you can stay there, then that would definitely light a fire under their rear ends to get a job sooner rather than later.
There has been multiple generations living in Kuhio Park Terrace and Mayor Wright. Time for other needy folks to have a chance. If folks can’t make it here, there are airplanes leaving for the mainland every day. I cannot feel sorry if these people have to leave Hawaii, others have left for opportunities on the mainland when there are no jobs here. That is just reality.
It’s a harsh reality if you’ve lived here for 30 generations or more.
“30 Generations?” As a generation is considered to be 25 years, you are talking about 750 years. Really?
It was the Polynesians from Tahiti who came to inhabit much of the Hawaiian Islands before the first Westerners landed on the Islands in the late 1700s.
Might want to rethink your post. Just saying…….
It was the Marquesans from French Marquesa that were believed to be the first inhabitants according to reference books. They were later annihilated by the next wave from Tahiti.
That is correct. Life is tough and no one is given any guaranty on how your life is going to be. That is what living in a free society gives you. In countries where oligarchies or dictatorships rule, an individual has no freedom to live their lives as they want, but the United States gives everyone born here a right to make the life they want, that is freedom. “Thirty generations” does not give you any more rights than the next person.
The loophole. Move out. Wait. Return back.
ACLU will not allow the poor to be displaced.
ACLU= Communist Infiltrators disrupting the good order and discipline of the USA…
Welfare recipients don’t need a union to speak up for them. They have jet perching voice to make anyone back off.
It’s about time! Public housing is meant to be used to get people up onto their own two feet and move on. Not to raise generation after generation of the same family.
Exactly! Also, why do they get Oceanic Cableand Road Runnerinternet paidby the taxpayer? Just the basics.
Roadrunner? Beep-beep.
That should also be on their own dime.
Waste of time, make more housing. Oops I forgot we have a telephone repair man for governor, incompetant and arrogant.
If they do this I hope they create exception for the many senior citizens who live on fixed incomes and are unlikely to work, and for those with disabilities. The people who can, should work.
Democratic State Rep. Sylvia Luke would also do well in asking the state what the average turn around time is from when a person does leave housing to when the new person moves in.
As we have seen over and over, when working maintenance issues on these units the state can take months to complete simple repair jobs.
Why? State union workers are guided by union rules to not use the most efficient building repair methods as it would reduce their work hours. They must drag it out as long as possible to justify all the dues they have paid to the unions.
Just another day in the little 7th world of Hawaii Nei.
Let’s get this straight: the reason, according to you, that people do not move out of public housing is related to unions artificially dragging out building maintenance?
State still has 175 vacant units that only need repairs to be habitable. At an average of 3 per unit, that will get 525 homeless off the streets. There are another 239 units that have actually started repairs but haven’t been completed, only the state knows why. If those units ever get completed an additional 717 homeless would be off the streets.
Exactly. See my post above. State is no hurry to get the vacated units repaired and back up for usage.
State unions try to say they have such a huge maintenance backlog they need more workers.
Dump the shoddy state union workers and contract it out. Set deadlines the contractor must meet, inspect when done. Can’t be any worse than state union workers.
I’m pretty sure the work is contracted out. They delay is most likely money.
It is money, Ige hasn’t requested sufficient funds in his budgets.
Who are you going blame do when you find out that this work is contracted out? Obama?
Once again a totally disjointed argument. I get the lack of, or delayed R&M causing units to be OOS longer, but that does not take away from Luke’s proposal. The only reason you bring that up is to try and take a dig at the state workers.
That is a great idea. It’s such a problem that getting one right now means you get it for life. We can’t build enough under the current model, it would be impossible.
Lease the dormant pineapple and sugar cane field and fill it with 10000 “Tradtional” Hawaiian Hale (i.e. Little Grass Shacks) and rent them for $128/mo. Problem solved.
Heptaclor herbicide was sprayed in them fields.
$128 per month for a 2 bedroom? Now that’s a great deal. No wonder so many of them can afford luxury SUVs.
Yes, exactly. Many of the “lifers” actually make good money, but it’s all cash-based, unreported, so not only cheating their way out of public housing but also tax fraud by not reporting their real income, and claiming earned income credit on top of that. Time to flush out these thieves.
May I ask what you consider good money to be?
I agree with the idea that we need more turnover but doubt Luke’s assertion that people will be discouraged from seeking higher paying jobs because their rent goes up. For every dollar their rent goes up they put two dollars in their pocket.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had a similar law limiting how long one might serve in the Hawaii legislature? Parasites all.
Yes! But let’s make it 8 years max.
The state created this condition by ‘training’ those that live in public housing to be dependent on the state to take care of their problems. This happens through generations as they teach their children to be at the mercy of the state.
The cycle continues – “Give someone a fish and they can feed themselves for a day. Teach a person to fish and they can feed themselves for a lifetime.”
Lucky for them that the state is so merciful. The only people the state is harsh and unyielding with are the working taxpayers.
How do I get cheap housing and free money instead of paying the state 15 percent of my income.
Dump your job and become homeless?
First a pair of cheap sunglasses.
I agree with Tiger…it’s crazy to think that living in housing is a good thing just because it’s cheap.
“State lawmakers are considering limiting the number of years people can live in public housing if they agree to an incentive program in advance”>>>And they would agree to this….why?
Second paragraph:
“By accepting a seven-year limit, potential tenants on the waiting list would get priority to move into apartments. They’d have their monthly rent frozen at the lowest possible level, instead of tying their rent to income.”
In a word: 1. So they don’t have to wait 5 years to get in. 2. So they’re rend doesn’t go up once they’re in.
Thank you. Too upset to comprehend.
“The policy discourages some people from pursuing higher-income jobs, because their rent goes up with their earnings, “>>> We’ve had people turn down raises, call in sick excessively to reduce their pay, and outright quit because they entered a “tax bracket”. This type of modification needs to apply to section 8 people as well. The lady next door “chooses” for her husband to stay home. His unemployment ran out and he WAS going to have to look for a job BEFORE their section 8 came through. Makes a third of why I do, drives a brand new 45k truck, latest phone, and is now planning their family Disney Vacation. WTH?!
Maybe that’s why I don’t get so mushy about the homeless. These people are one paycheck away from being homeless because THEY CHOOSE to be one paycheck from being homeless. It’s a way of life.
What the State should really do is to make their workers do what they are paid to do – Review every public housing tenant periodically (every year or two) to insure that the tenant is still eligible to get public housing. If not, give that housing to the next waiting eligible person. Chances are good that there are many people cheating the system – or not making a good effort to make it on their own.
That doesn’t work. The “lifers” know how to evade the system. They are smarter than the general public makes them out for. They know not to put money in bank accounts under their name, and know to look for employment sources that won’t issue financial documents at the end of the year. These people aren’t stupid, they know it’s hard to prove you got money when you have nothing to show for it and know they won’t get kicked out that easily anyway. Time to implement across the board time limits to get rid of this problem for once and for all.
Then make large cash rewards for people who turn these thieves in. You’ll see results as there is no honor with these kinds of people.
Those living on public housing and receiving public assistance should be drug tested randomly and frequently. If they don’t pass or don’t show for the test they should be evicted asap. I’m all for helping people that are willing to help themselves but I don’t think it’s fair that people who actually need help can’t get it because others are milking the system.
A great idea that should have been started long ago. There are multi-generational families living in the housings, with absolutely no incentive for the youth to improve their lot in life. They should also look at total wealth, rather just income. And if anyone who lives in the unit commits a crime, everyone gets kicked out and banned from public housing for at least 10 years.
A lot of good comments here. I left at 20 and moved to Seattle to create my own opportunities. Worked at Boeing for 35 years. I’m now disabled and had to retire. They should limit the number of years you could live in public housing. They should also limit the number of years as an elected official. This would hopefully get rid of the career FLAT TIRES IN PUBLIC HOUSING AND IN THE CAPITOL.
Regarding: “By accepting a seven-year limit, potential tenants on the waiting list would get priority to move into apartments. They’d have their monthly rent frozen at the lowest possible level, instead of tying their rent to income.”
SEVEN years ??? Almost anyone can get public trough in SEVEN years.
There is no incentive to seek your own housing. A cradle-to-grave way of life.
I’d suggest THREE years and out you go !
I think this is a really bad idea. It reminds me of Bill Clinton’s effort to “end welfare as we know it,” and, he did.
Some people just need help all their lives. And, jobs are disappearing with increased automation.
If we need more public housing then we should create more, not kick the people in public housing out. Need housing for the homeless? Then build small housing as has been reported on in this newspaper.
Kicking people out is just a bad idea.
To my recollection, there is a law limiting the time allowed to stay in public housing. IT iIS NOT BEING ENFORCED?
Someone once suggested that these tenants who had the money to smoke or drank alcohol, should not be eligible for housing. Is this legal?
Limit the number of years but do NOT give them any kind of INCENTIVES. Only thing is to give retirees on fixed incomes some slack after a thorough review.