In recent weeks, my office has been receiving calls regarding the homeless problem in Wahiawa and concerns relating to security and sanitation problems. Residents, businesses and others who work in the area have expressed various concerns regarding the hostility of some of the homeless people and the lack of concern relating to health issues.
My office has been in contact with the Hawaii Interagency Council on Homelessness (HICH) and the state Department of Human Services to seek solutions to the situation in Wahiawa. According to HICH, social service providers, along with state agencies routinely conduct sweeps and outreach in the communities to get individuals the help they need. The intent of the sweeps is to encourage the homeless to get off the streets. While these cleanups are effective, it is costly and uses money and resources that would otherwise be used for road maintenance and other public services.
Although various agencies have been trying to help the homeless population on Oahu, homelessness is a problem because of our high cost of living and a lack of jobs and affordable housing for which many of the homeless could qualify.
The Institute for Human Services was recently granted a contract with the City to do scattered site housing in the North Shore and Central Oahu areas. Scattered Site Housing grants enable local governments to address the most critical housing needs of very low-income families (incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median income).
Homelessness is not a single-solution problem. Many factors contribute to it, and we need to address both short-term and long-term solutions. The short term would be to encourage the homeless to seek assistance from organizations that could help them and provide shelter. The long term would be to create jobs and provide work force and affordable housing.
Continue reading on Midweek.com
(from Big City Sparkplug) - Over time there have been substantial changes to America's strategy for urban redevelopment. After World War II, and with the rise of modernism, it came primarily from the top down by cities that used eminent domain to demolish neighborhoods, in favor of subsidized complexes planned by lone developers. And while projects like this are still built - see Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards, or the convention centers gambled on by struggling municipalities - they've become increasingly detested due to their unprofitability and formulaic designs. What's arising in their place is an approach that emphasizes growth incrementally and from the bottom up, using smaller-scaled and more diverse architecture, and many small businesses rather than a few large ones. This has been used primarily in urban neighborhoods like historic warehouse districts, where development already exists, but where more is needed, to add vitality and foot traffic piece by piece.
This same "organic" approach has also been applied to public spaces, which is not to say that the benefits of larger ones are yet being overlooked. There are, for example, still expansive waterfront parks and cultural centers underway in cities like New York and Miami. But now they are being built alongside smaller beautification measures that, if not publicly subsidized, are at least becoming less taboo. These range from food-cart parks, to murals painted on buildings or crosswalks, to unused lots that are converted into "guerrilla" gardens. While these measures are often advocated by nearby residents, they are increasingly becoming associated with a larger design movement called "tactical urbanism".
Continue reading on BigCitySparkplug.com
Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced the release of more than $44 million for various capital improvement projects (CIPs) statewide, including public schools, health facilities, transportation infrastructure and more.
"Since the start of 2012, my administration has released more than $885.8 million for CIPs, including these newly released funds, as a part of an economic strategy to address priority work while stimulating the economy and generating job opportunities for residents," said Governor Abercrombie. "We've made significant progress. Our local economy is back on track. Credit rating agencies have taken notice. And, the state's unemployment rate has continued to improve, falling in October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.5 percent - a pre-recession level."
Allotment of funds for the following priority projects, identified by members of the state Legislature, has been approved by the Governor:
$2,500,000 - Aikahi and Wahiawa Elementary Schools, Oahu: Improvements to drainage at Aikahi Elementary, and creation of student drop off area and additional parking at Wahiawa Elementary School
Continue reading on Governor Neil Abercrombie's website
(Honolulu Civil Beat) - The state is poised to spend $13 million on 1,750 acres of agricultural land in a plan to boost farm production and food security. But obstacles remain to making the farming experiment on central Oahu lands owned by the George Galbraith Estate a success.
"To acquire the land by itself doesn't assure successful ag," said Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, who represents the district where the former pineapple fields have laid fallow since 2006. He's helping craft plans for cultivating the land near Wahiawa in a way that will not only lead to increased food production, but job creation and redevelopment of the region.
The sale of the land, owned by 600 heirs of the Galbraith Estate, to the state has been in the works for years. The final closing date is scheduled for December 10, according to Jimmy Nakatani, executive director of Hawaii's Agribusiness Development Corporation, which will be in charge of about 1,200 acres.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs will oversee the other 500 acres, which includes sacred Native Hawaiian birthing stones. The total sales price is $25 million, with additional funding coming from sources including the U.S. Army, the city and OHA. The Trust for Public Land, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, is brokering the deal.
The land purchase is being applauded as a big step toward Hawaii's goals of food sustainability at a time when increasing amounts of farmland are being turned over to development. In the past year, state regulators have reclassified about 2,000 acres of prime agricultural lands for the major Oahu housing developments of Hoopili and Koa Ridge.
Continue reading on Honolulu Civil Beat
(Honolulu Civil Beat) - For the first time in nearly two decades, a Republican holds a leadership position in the Hawaii Legislature.
On Friday Sen. Sam Slom was appointed vice chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Housing, which will be chaired by Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz.
"Senator Slom is a small businessman, and sometimes we need to look beyond the partisanship and get to the skill sets," explained Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria. "That's the primary reason he will serve as vice chair, and why we are crossing the aisle."
As the lone Republican, Slom already has a seat on all committees, which now number 16, up from 14 during the 2011 and 2012 sessions. Whether Slom will have any real power is unclear, however. Leaders in the Democratic majority will still call the shots on which bills are heard or not.
Continue reading on Honolulu Civil Beat
(KHON2) - It's been years in the works and the state is now closer to purchasing the Galbraith land through a public - private partnership.
Plans for the area were presented to the Wahiawa - Whitmore neighborhood board tonight.
Senator Donovan Dela Cruz says the plan includes a section for packing and processing, separate from the farming that would happen on the Galbraith land.
"So that way we can really leave those 1700 acres open space that's doing productive ag, and packing and processing could be in Whitmore Village," said Senator Donovan Dela Cruz. "So what that allows us is a workforce right across the street, it helps us to revitalize the area. That's our history."
Dela Cruz says this is not a done deal yet. OHA still needs to agree to the sale and if they don't get the money into escrow within the next several weeks they may have to start all over again.
Continue reading on KHON2
(The Wall Street Journal) - The trustee for hundreds of heirs to a large tract here on Oahu island has agreed to sell their inheritance to the state for preservation as farmland, reversing a dacadeslong trend of most such open land being developed.
The 1,750-acre tract, one of the islands largest undeveloped plots, was the estate of George Galbraith, an Irish immigrant who acquired the land in the 19th century. Ownership of the one-time pineapple farm passed through generations to roughly 600 heirs today.
Continue reading on WSJ.com