Hawaii County on Tuesday responded to the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii regarding concerns raised in a letter that demanded the county stop evicting people from homeless encampments without first providing adequate shelter.
The ACLU’s letter, sent Friday to Mayor Mitch Roth and other county officials, criticized the county’s decision to evict homeless individuals May 24 from the Hale Halawai beach park in Kailua-Kona.
The letter, which claimed that 23 were evicted, also raised questions about possible violations of the constitutional rights of the homeless people.
The county’s response to Wookie Kim, legal director of the ACLU of Hawaii, was signed by Managing Director Lee Lord instead of Roth.
In his letter, Lord said the county “has taken a balanced approach” that recognizes “the needs of community members experiencing homelessness and ensuring the health, welfare, and safety of the public when we initiated the Park Rules enforcement operation at Hale Halawai … .”
Lord noted “the large-scale operation involved substantial resources.”
He said they included the participation of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, Hawaii Police Department, the Office of Housing and Community Development, as well as the West Hawaii Community Health Center, Care Hawaii-Mental Health and Crisis Outreach, HOPE Services and 808 Homeless Taskforce.
Lord wrote that “outreach began two weeks prior to the enforcement action, at which time twenty-three (23) individuals were identified as community members experiencing homelessness at Hale Halawai. Outreach included notice of the upcoming park enforcement action, options to temporarily store personal property with the county, and offers of homeless support services.“
According to Lord, on the day of the sweep on May 24, only 10 individuals experiencing homelessness remained at Hale Halawai, “all of whom received assistance by way of temporary/long-term housing, and/or an arranged flight to reunite with family.”
None of the remaining 10 were cited or arrested, Lord wrote, and “each was reminded of the option to have the county store any personal property. None, however, chose this option. All unclaimed property was cleared from the park, and over 2 tons of rubbish was removed.”
According to Kim’s letter, a similar park sweep was planned for today near the Kona Community Aquatic Center.
The county did not state Tuesday whether that eviction and cleanup effort would occur.
Kim in his letter said the county’s actions May 24 were “constitutionally problematic,” stating that legal precedent has affirmed that municipalities cannot criminally sanction homeless people for sleeping in public outdoor spaces when no alternative shelter is available.
Kim cited the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case Martin v. Boise, in which the court ruled that such law enforcement actions are unconstitutional when the county cannot provide adequate shelters.
“Here — when houseless people in the county have no safe place to go without being subjected to the county’s laws that punish sheltering in public spaces — enforcement actions like the Hale Halawai sweep and the planned sweeps (if the county chooses to move forward with them) violate the mandates of the U.S. and Hawaii constitutions,” Kim wrote.
Kim went on to demand that the “county must stop the planned sweeps.”
In his conclusion, Lord said “the county has the responsibility to maintain the health and safety of county parks for all to enjoy.”
“The county will continue to work with our on-island service providers to get homeless individuals the help they need,” he wrote. … “As we continue our efforts to maintain the health, welfare and safety of the public at our county parks while addressing the needs of community members experiencing homelessness, we welcome dialogue with the ACLU on this very important issue.”
