Members of the City Council spend every day responding to constituent requests and addressing the needs of our citizens. We are sensitive to services our communities want and need. We also know what is realistic. If the city wants to manage the growing homeless population and address the severe shortage of affordable housing, serious proposals first need to gain acceptance and support from the constituencies residing in each of the nine City Council districts.

Lloyd Pendleton, Utah’s homeless guru who came to Honolulu at the invitation of Mayor Kirk Caldwell, told Council members that working in a bureaucracy is inefficient and that they should lead a coordinated effort in each of their districts. We could not agree more. Solutions to these complex, decades-old problems must be coordinated by the area Council member working in concert with the administration. The specific issues related to homelessness and affordable housing are different in each district. An approach that works in one area may not be applicable to another, but the Council and the administration can succeed if they work together from the start. In the last year, the Council passed 13 housing-related resolutions and bills that were largely ignored.

In the short term, the task is to identify the resources available in each district: shelter space, effective service providers, affordable housing opportunities, and community partners willing to work with government. We need to build “urban rest stops” where they are needed most, allow temporary encampments on city-owned land that is primed for the development of permanent, supportive housing, and prioritize getting families and the elderly off the street.

In the long term, we have to get serious about seeding the development of truly affordable housing, not as a landlord but as a partner. The city should sell its affordable housing portfolio and leverage the proceeds to create financing opportunities for private-sector partners.

We could also speed up the permitting process expressly for developers interested in building housing for families earning less than 60 percent of the area median income. While we commend the mayor for Bill 27, which allows the building of accessory dwelling units, we can take it further and waive the fees associated with construction as well as setting an expedited timetable for permit approvals.

In spite of $139 million appropriated in the last two fiscal years, the homeless population on Oahu continued to increase just as it has every year since 2009. We need more than 20,000 affordable housing units for families earning significantly less than $76,000 a year. The Council’s reluctance to commit more and more money to the administration for housing stems from the fact that we don’t yet have a clear idea of what programs and initiatives are effective and efficient. Why are we maintaining temporary shelters like Sand Island when on any given night half of the existing shelter space on Oahu is vacant? Why are we competing in one of the hottest real estate markets in America before we develop or re-purpose the land and buildings we already own? Do we need to create a new layer of bureaucracy when the city already employs talented professionals in every department who are capable of managing homelessness and asset development?

These questions have not yet been adequately addressed nor has the administration articulated a clear vision or worked with the Council on a comprehensive plan. The mayor is advised and invited to meet with each Council member and strategize solutions before going out into the districts and executing a plan or discussing the city’s priorities in committee meetings. Too often, the area Councilmember is left out of the loop and learns about a project or initiative through a press release or by watching the evening news.

Both the Council and the mayor unequivocally agree that homelessness and affordable housing are longstanding, serious issues. For the sake of countless Oahu residents who need a helping hand, it is time to bridge the divide between Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration and the nine members of the City Council. There is ample time before the budget is finalized in June for the mayor and the Council to work together and give this issue the prioritized attention it deserves.