Honolulu sees reduced park vandalism with upgraded security
HONOLULU — Honolulu has seen the cost of repairing vandalism to city parks fall because of new security strategies. Park vandalism repair costs fell to $223,000 from July 2018 through June 2019.
The figure represented a nearly 5% decrease from the previous fiscal year when vandalism repairs cost the city $234,000. The decrease was the first since the city began tracking vandalism costs in 2014, officials said.
The city is addressing vandalism and safety in various ways.
Locking restroom gates at night at four additional parks began Monday, an increase to 62 lockable park restrooms. The expected annual cost is $338,000, or $15 per park each day, said parks spokesman Nathan Serota.
Park rangers were assigned to Ala Moana Regional Park, Kapiolani Park and Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve and are expected to begin overseeing Kakaako parks, officials said.
Honolulu hired Hawaii Protective Association in November at $44,000 annually to rotate unarmed private security guards among nine city parks.
The city also added 40 surveillance cameras in Waikiki to the 10 cameras already installed, although the additions were not directly related to park safety, officials said.
And the city encouraged organizations to use parks to keep them “activated” and deter unwanted activity.
Honolulu making changes to improve bulky item pickup program
HONOLULU — Honolulu is updating a pilot program to improve the collection of bulky trash items that have been piling up in neighborhoods since new rules took effect.
The city’s Department of Environmental Services tweaked the program to allow Waikiki residents to schedule weekly rather than only once-monthly pickup appointments.
The city initially shifted about 70,000 single-family homes and multiunit residential buildings from monthly scheduled bulky item collection to an appointment-based program that began in June and is slated to run through the end of January.
Complaints about the new rules began almost immediately as bulky trash items piled up, especially in Waikiki.
In August, the city began allowing tenants in multiunit buildings to make appointments instead of going through property owners, resident managers and apartment owner associations.
Waikiki has averaged 11 to 15 tons of bulk items picked up per month for those making appointments, which has increased 32%.
