City Council members representing urban Honolulu and Leeward and West Oahu have introduced bills to toughen penalties and hold landlords responsible for hosting gambling operations on Oahu. Those are necessary actions against a serious problem that hasn’t been adequately addressed for decades, and continues to defy recent efforts.

Bill 57, Bill 58 and Resolution 228, introduced by Andria Tupola and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, together would give the city authority to impose hefty fines on landlords and to take civil action enforcing the law; authorize Honolulu Police Department (HPD) officers to cite landlords for code and land use violations, working with the Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP); and encourage cooperation and evidence-sharing between HPD and DPP to boost enforcement.

Bill 57 would allow DPP to impose $1,000 in fines per day, up to $150,000 total, on landlords, and allow the Corporation Counsel to impose liens and file suit against landlords who don’t eject gamblers and pay up.

The bill also declares that every building or property hosting gambling “is a public nuisance per se” — and must be acted against. It does not require proof that a landlord knew of, controlled or agreed to the gambling, providing an alternative to criminal charges against a property owner.

Bill 58 would allow HPD officers, as authorized by the DPP, to cite landlords for building code, fire code and land use ordinance violations, imposing fines, stop work orders and/or a requirement the violation be corrected.

Resolution 228 calls for HPD and DPP to work collaboratively to gather evidence and cite properties hosting illegal game rooms for code or land use violations.

The bills are an acknowledgment that the current tools available to the HPD and city prosecutors haven’t been sufficient to block the pipeline of gambling room operators who have had no trouble finding landlords to host their illegal activity.

It’s good to see Bill 58 and Resolution 228 recognize that building code inspectors are unlikely to enter gambling dens themselves to look for violations, though the dens can be likely sites for violations.

The trio of actions, according to Police Maj. Roland Turner, could be a game-changer — “a better way” to crack down on the problem.

HPD estimates there are at least 100 illegal game rooms operating on Oahu. Some are basic sites for electronic gambling devices or bet-taking. Others harbor far more threatening and harmful activities: dealing drugs, exchanging illegal weapons and even sex trafficking. All eat away at the rule of and respect for law.

While on average, about 20 gambling sites are raided each year, the overall number of operations hardly budges. Often, one operation is closed down, but another follows in the same location, with the same landlord.

Gambling sites have been uncovered in close proximity to public schools. Violence has broken out over arguments between gamblers or in robbery attempts. And in certain cases, gambling sites have been meeting spots for figures involved in organized crime, and a potential nexus for conspiracies related to violent crimes, including murder.

In Tupola’s District 1, she said, shootings tied to gambling dens are frequent, “because of the large amounts of cash from these illegal operations, as well as confrontations that have led to violence.”

That is a burden no Oahu neighborhood should bear, posing danger to residents, and even children, who live or pass nearby.

Last week’s news conference announcing the antigambling measures was held in front of a suspected game room directly across from Kalihi Uka Elementary School. That site, along with the building behind it, was raided on July 27 — and it was discovered that an unpermitted second floor had been added to the rear building.

The bills and resolution are scheduled for a first City Council hearing on Oct. 4. The Council should examine them for refinements, if necessary, and begin pushing all three to the finish line.