HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0721.017 2020-2022 PIFs
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From: Sherilyn Wells
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2022 8:18 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Support "Affordable Housing Bills" 152 and 153 please
I cannot say it any more eloquently than Marya Mann, so I am echoing her profound statements. .•
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Aloha nui kakou, CO
I hope this letter finds you well! Mahalo for the opportunity to support Bill 153,the lA
Charter amendment bill that appropriates one percent of the County's annual real property '" g
tax revenues(approximately$4 million) into the housing program revolving fund.
This is a step in the right direction,as is Bill 152,which expands the housing program
revolving fund for acquisition of land and rehabilitation of existing structures to provide more
secure housing options across our county. But it is not enough.
The housing situation in Hawaii County is dire,with working class people and long-
term residents being marginalized and displaced at a rapid rate.While there are many causes
of homelessness, including job loss, poverty,and medical issues,our housing emergency in
Hawaii is directly related to the lack of affordable housing.The massive influx of short-term
visitors and wealthy buyers are outpricing people who have lived in Hawaii for many decades.
The people who are being uprooted from their homes and rental units have formed the
backbone of the island—the teachers and doctors, landscapers,farmers,and service workers
who make us a real community.
Inadequate housing is breaking the backs of many—children,families,grandparents,
and those who have worked their whole lives to make Hawaii a great place to live.
Being homeless is like being cast off from society. It is destabilizing,demoralizing and
depressing. You've lost your base,a foundation from which to function. It becomes hard to
focus. Constant obstacles chip away at your self-esteem and your healthy personality withers,
disintegrates,scatters. In ages past, monks had begging bowls and roamed the land; it was
considered a great blessing to help them when they asked for food or a place to sleep.Today,
the Buddha would have a hard time surviving in Hawaii.
To be homeless today is to be the unnamed and invisible ghosts of society.You can sit
in a public place all day with people going by and not one will meet your eyes.You learn tricks
of survival such as gaining a meal from condiment packets at fast food restaurants or garbage
cans.You learn quickly that you are a non-person, lost in the sea of chaos that ensues when
you have no foundation, no bed to sleep in, no place to cook meals or take a shower.
The passage of bills 152 and 153 will help, but it can't help fast enough to save the
lives and livelihoods of some of Hawaii's most valued members of societies.We tend to think
of homelessness as affecting only the few who are ill, lazy, or crazy. But that is far from the
truth. People whose great-grandparents helped create our communities, people with credit
scores in the 800s, people with long-term jobs,vocational licensing,and multiple degrees are 2111
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entering the ranks of the homeless or near-homeless because of one quality in human nature.
That quality is greed.
A two-bedroom apartment in Kealakekua, Hilo, or North Hawaii may have been listed
for$1700 two months ago.Today, that same apartment might be listed for$3000 or even
$5000 per month!This obscene rate of growth stems from the flood of tourists and wealthy
individuals buying up land,condos, houses and rental complexes.They often buy, not fora l
place to live, but to invest in overpriced rentals and resell to the highest bidder.
The situation can be made workable again, but right now, it is disastrous for far too
many people. We are losing not only our medical professionals and high-quality teachers due
to the high cost of living,especially the rising cost of housing, but we are losing what gave
Hawaii its bedrock of integrity and real beauty—our sense of Aloha. While we need Bills 152
and 153,we also need to place restraints on the rapid growth of short-term vacation rentals.
On Oahu, Bill 41 CD1 addressing illegal vacation rentals in the City and County of
Honolulu, recently passed. It enforces vacation-rental rules to increase the housing supply. My
understanding is that short-term rentals less than 90 days have been made illegal,and this is
helping the free up some housing for community members' long-term needs, but again it's not
enough. Knowing this, legislators also gave the Mayor of Honolulu the power to declare a state
of disaster or emergency in accordance with Article. 11,Chapter 41, Revised Ordinances of
Honolulu, 1990.
To make Hawaii County's communities more stable,we need to pass a similar bill here.
The housing crunch is already at disastrous levels for many families, and addressing these
challenges now is the only way to move forward with honor and help the community members
who have contributed to and sustained Hawaii as the Land of Aloha.
Special thanks to Councilmembers Holeka Inaba and Heather Kimball for introducing
these two affordable housing bills.We would love to see more being done to create Kauhale,
the community-oriented villages that give positive social foundations and structures to all
members of the community, not just the wealthy. Lieutenant Governor Josh Green is
spearheading this effort and he deserves our support.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Mahalo nui,
Marya Mann, Ph. D.
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