2026-01-08 Liquor Commission Minutes Hilo

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Okabe: Do you have a community association in that area, neighborhood watch, and things like that? DeMattos: There is not one that I'm aware of, no. Okabe: An area for the community to get involved with what your concerns are? DeMattos: I think there's two things that would be really positive there, one is a neighborhood watch and then the other is a community association. Okabe: Yes. DeMattos: There's a lot of long-standing families who live there, and some of them, their keiki and mo`opuna are now living in those homes. So, the hope would be and we've seen some of that, we've seen some home improvements in that neighborhood even as we've seen homelessness move in. So it's been this two kind of parallel waves, on the one hand you're seeing the residential area show marked improvements, and in other areas particularly on Hoku Street where there are some vacant lots where we've seen homelessness move in, and I think that's a concern for those of us who have kids in the neighborhood. Okabe: And it's also a renters area too, right? A lot of homes are rented. DeMattos: There's two groups there, one is a high -rent group, and the other is the ancestors of those who originally owned the homes and now those homes have now been passed on. Okabe: So, I would suggest that you know, the community you know send out flyers and try to have a community association, and look at an opportunity for the community to get involved in monitoring the concerns that you have. DeMattos: Is there is there a county office that can help facilitate that? Greenwell: Yeah, Police Department. DeMattos: Police for neighborhood watch, right? But for community associations, are there county offices that may help facilitate that process? Because, the neighborhood watch is an important piece and that offers policing and surveillance, but you also don't want policing in lieu of support. So, establishing a community association is the other side of that coin, right? Is the support for the community and the neighborhood watch is part of the policing and surveillance of that neighborhood. I think when you have one without the other, it introduces a different climate to the neighborhood and you'd want to make sure that both of those are met. Nishimoto: I wonder if there's another community available similar to what you have that have community support or community you know program that you might be able to inquire with to see what they did. MINUTES - LIQUOR COMMISSION MEETING - THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2026 - HILO PAGE 8 OF 41