Under the campaign-like slogan “Keep Hawaii, Hawaii,” Honolulu City Council members Radiant Cordero and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam have introduced legislation that seeks a “resident preference” for those who participate in city-run housing programs.
As proposed, Bill 19 seeks to ensure that any housing created by the city, or with city funds, be first offered to those who live and work on Oahu.
Modeled after similar legislation in Boston that eventually became part of that city’s municipal code, Bill 19 would specify Oahu residents will be given priority for housing that is:
>> Funded by Honolulu taxpayer dollars.
>> Developed by the city.
>> Purchased and managed by the city.
According to Dos Santos- Tam’s office, Honolulu’s proposed measure comes as the state enters nearly a decade of population decline, with 67,257 people leaving Hawaii between 2021 and 2022.
In Honolulu specifically, 73% of Native Hawaiians claimed the cost of living as a prime reason they were moving, more than twice as much as some neighboring counties, his office states.
“We lose dozens of local people every day. If you’ve lived here long enough, you’ve undoubtedly seen it. You’ve had to say goodbye to your uncles and aunties, your siblings, your cousins, and your children or grandchildren,” Dos Santos-Tam said in a written statement. “This can’t continue.
“Prioritizing Oahu residents in our city-funded affordable housing programs is just common sense. Oahu residents deserve to be first in line for city-funded housing, plain and simple,” he said.
As defined under state laws, a qualifying housing applicant must be a “full-time resident of the city,” including any individual domiciled in the city; any individual who resides in the city; or anyone who spends at least 200 days of the year in the city, the bill states.
During the Council’s meeting Monday, Dos Santos- Tam noted that similar resident-preference policies — including those in Boston — have “stood up in court” and offer “a very broad definition of residency.”
And under Boston’s “resident preference” housing code, it includes “those persons that are commonly known and/or agency- verifiable as homeless and subsisting” within that city.
Dos Santos-Tam asserted Bill 19 “does not just include Oahu residents per se, but also includes individuals who are residing here” including Compact of Free Association, or COFA, migrants from the Federated States of Micronesia.
But others, including Council member Matt Weyer, expressed reservations over the measure.
Weyer said although he fully supports Bill 19’s intent “to create housing opportunities for local residents,” he wanted to proceed differently.
“I do think that my preference … is to focus our efforts on the root causes of the problem, which I would say are the more affluent folks investing in properties and buying properties and converting them into vacant homes or vacation rentals,” he said.
To that end, Weyer said he’d rather see more done on a possible rental relief bill.
“Maybe providing a lower rate for folks who are renting versus folks who just want to keep their home empty,” he said.
Weyer noted he wanted “to ensure our efforts are really on who is causing our housing crisis, and what’s leading to folks having to move away.
“And while I know our providers do a lot of work with maybe homeless individuals that get flown in and often are trying to fly them back to their original community … because we want to use resources for local families who aren’t getting the resources they need,” he said. “But at the same time I don’t want to suggest or make it seem that poor individuals, or lower income individuals, are part of our housing problem.”
Vice Chair Esther Kia‘aina said she looked forward to more “dialogue in committee on this bill.”
“Because it gets to the heart of what we’re trying to achieve, and that is how do we legally provide an avenue for there to be a priority or preference for residents,” she said, adding that any future discussion of the bill should review its scope with regard to affordable housing. “Does it include city-owned properties, 201H projects, federally funded programs, projects under Bill 1 and Bill 7, and awardees from the affordable housing fund?”
Ultimately, the Council unanimously voted on Bill 19’s first reading.
Next, the panel’s Committee on Zoning is scheduled to further scrutinize the measure Wednesday.
