A plan to expand the city’s existing sit-lie law was approved 7-2 by the Honolulu City Council on Wednesday, despite lingering worries that it may not pass constitutional muster.
Council members Brandon Elefante and Kymberly Pine, who have consistently opposed all sit-lie measures, voted against Bill 6. Councilman Ron Menor voted "yes" with reservations.
Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, the city’s top civil attorney, said that her office submitted to the Council a suggested, amended version of the bill that would have cleared up some of the legal concerns. But no Council member offered it for consideration before Wednesday’s vote.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell said after the vote that he wants to review Leong’s concerns before deciding whether to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. He has 10 working days, from the time he officially receives the bill, to decide.
The measure passed Wednesday does two things. First, it shores up Bill 48 (2014), the business district sit-lie law that was passed last year, by applying the prohibition to both sides of streets along the borders of existing sit-lie zones.
Second, Bill 6 adds portions of McCully, Aala, Punchbowl and Kapalama Canal to the list of zones where restrictions on sitting and lying are applied.
Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi introduced the bill while colleagues Carol Fukunaga and Joey Manahan offered additional sites. All three said they included the new neighborhoods in response to complaints raised by merchants that people camped out on sidewalks outside storefronts were adversely affecting business.
Several people testified against the bill, arguing that sit-lie laws are ineffective in reducing the homeless population while making it criminal to live on the streets.
Scott Morishige, executive director of the nonprofit homeless advocacy group FOCUS, said he did not oppose the measure Wednesday but wanted to offer comments. Morishige said his group’s data show emergency shelter vacancy rates have "remained relatively stable" from last September, when the first sit-lie bill for Waikiki was first enforced, to April.
About the same time, he said, a homeless encampment in lower Kakaako has increased to 131 tents, about 500 individuals, from 62 tents, or roughly 180 people. Other service providers have also reported increased homeless in other parts of Oahu including along Kapalama Canal in Kalihi, as well as in Aiea, Ewa and Wahiawa, he said.
Pine, in explaining her opposition to the bill, said "this just pushes the problem from one district to the next."
Leong and her staffers have been reluctant to discuss publicly what about the bill specifically makes it vulnerable to legal challenges. But at past Council proceedings, they have pointed out that sit-lie bills generally hinge on the idea that businesses and business districts are being directly affected by the presence of people impeding access to storefronts.
Caldwell told reporters he is a supporter of sit-lie legislation, noting that it was his administration that pushed through the initial law that applies to Waikiki. However, he said, "across the country … sit-lie laws work and can be defended if they’re tightly drafted … to apply to areas where there’s commercial and business use."
He said he was disappointed that Council leaders did not even consider the changes recommended by Leong to tighten the measure.
