I have written to my City Council member to express my disgust at Bill 49, which would implement fines and jail times for “shopping carts in public places” (“Honolulu City Council pushes fines, jail for shopping cart violations,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 10).

This is a paper-thin veiled attack on our most vulnerable population, the houseless, who need our assistance and compassion. What houseless person can afford a fine of $500? So off to our overcrowded jail system they will go, to rack up more fines and legal issues that only prolong and complicate their struggles and drain taxpayer dollars that could go toward actual solutions to the houseless crisis.

I know I am not alone in lamenting, “What is our government doing to help?,” every time I walk by someone experiencing houselessness. This “solution” would be laughable if it weren’t so cruel.

I implore the Council to explore common sense resolutions that will help people access health care, substance use disorder treatment and housing, not the inside of a jail cell.

Sarah Burns

Kaimuki

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