Update: Complete minutes of our July meeting are available by clicking on this link or by pasting the following address into your browser: http://www.honolulu.gov/rep/site/nco/nb30/16/30_2016_07Min.pdf
We received comments on a wide range of issues at our July meeting. Here are some highlights.
We received comments on a wide range of issues at our July meeting. Here are some highlights.
St. Mark Lutheran School
Expansion: We learned about the school’s plans to build a preschool facility on its campus. The facility would include three preschool
classrooms, library, technology center, meeting rooms and administrative
offices. The building would replace the current administrative offices,
kindergarten room, and computer room. A
resident told us he was unhappy with the school’s enforcement of parking on the
resident’s private lane and about alleged poor tree trimming of trees that are leaning
with the prevailing trade winds.
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| The Goddard Building -- Work is under way to replace it and ease overcrowding at the State Hospital. |
Hawaii State Hospital
Conditions: Board
Vice-Chairman Bill Sager reported on a recent meeting of the hospital’s
Citizens Advisory Board. He said that serious overcrowding
continues to be the major challenge for the hospital, which treats 220 patients
in space designed for 160. Classrooms, offices, conference rooms and even the
library are used to provide bed space. Currently, the hospital’s Goddard
Building is in being demolished to make way for a modern facility that will
alleviate the overcrowding. Completion of the new facility will take
about five years.
Despite the crowding, assaults have been cut in half over
the past three years. Hospital Adminstrator William May credits the
implementation of the Imua Program, in which staff members know each patient by
name and go out of their way to understand how each patient is doing. If
something is bothering a patient, staff try to resolve the problem before it
escalates. They also document the situation for all other staff, so there is
continuity in treatment.
Homelessness: We discussed this topic
at some length. Our vice-chairman, Bill Sager, reported attending the
first meeting of the Windward Homeless Coalition. K.C. Connors reported that
William, a homeless man she has been trying to help, has died. William
was a 72-year-old gentleman who was trying to make do on Social Security but
lost his home after his wife died. He had been living in an electric wheelchair
at the bus stop by Windward Mall.
We discussed the governor’s report that homelessness was
down significantly on the Windward side. K.C. Connors was the only one
who volunteered to participate in the 2016
Point-In-Time homeless count, and the decline is the
result of inadequate documentation. One of the primary goals of the
Coalition is to develop accurate data in the future.
Traffic Calming For Anoi Road: Senator Jill Tokuda and a representative from the Mayor’s Office
told us that planning is under way to build traffic circles to slow traffic on Anoi
Road and Luluku Road. Numerous motorists use
those roads to jump from the Likelike Highway to the Kamehameha Highway without
going through congested traffic where the highways intersect. The plan is to
build one traffic circle at Anoi and Uhilehua Street, and another at Luluku and
Apapane Street.
Illegal Rental Housing: A resident brought up concerns over illegal short-term vacation
rentals in her neighborhood. She expressed frustration over a lack of
enforcement due to the City only having only one investigator to issue
citations. Others
testified on the impact of transient rentals on the price and availability of
rental housing. We discussed how to enforce laws related to transient rentals. Board
Chairman Mo Radke suggested forming a permitted interaction group to
investigate and recommend solutions.
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