Rubbish along Kaneohe Stream

This issue first came to the Board as a litter complaint. It quickly evolved into a much more complex problem.

1) the accumulation of rubbish and debris appears to be greatest in one particular area and is of the greatest immediate concern because a) of its proximity to the Kaneohe River; b) it is next to a heavily used playing field used by children; c) the person(s) responsible for creating the mess may not be mentally stable based on reports concerning observed behavior; d) proximity to residences in the vicinity and complaints by those residents; and e) the site may be on private property.
2) there are other sites nearby that may also be of concern i.e. under the Kaneohe River bridge because of a number of people have been seen frequenting the area. These other sites are probably located on public property but the exact agency or agencies responsible have not yet been identified.
3) the other areas of concern are next to or adjacent to the soon to be Civic Center parking area and should be cleaned up before that project is completed.
4) in addition to cleaning the area of litter and debris homeless outreach should be conducted in order to determine if suspected homeless persons can be relocated.
5) a plan to utilize these areas constructively should be developed in order to prevent the accumulation of rubbish and debris in the future. One possibility that should be considered is to establish a people's gardening site in these areas.

This is basically a problem of how to help homeless and often addicted and or mentally challenged individuals. The City's approach to cleaning up parks is to make long term camping impossible. When the homeless are chased out of one area they move to another. Moving the homeless away from Kaneohe Stream is not going to resolve the problem. It will only make it someone else's problem.

People who cannot help themselves need our help. There are a lot of people trying to resolve this situation. Hopefully, they will find a solution and not just move the problem somewhere else.

Photos here