on Bill 59, another horrible bill. the papers please bill. Testimony by H. Doug Matsuoka at the fakestatecity council September 10, 2013 “Even in a democracy like Hawaii has today, citizens must always be alert to the abuses of power. Voting does not guarantee good leaders.” The Law of the Splintered Paddle, an educational pamphlet published by the HSBA Auxiliary (attached) Re: Testimony opposing Bill 59 Relating to Public Sidewalks Aloha Chair Martin, Councilmember Stanley P. Chang, and the Council, Although bills introduced in the past couple of years have out done each other in criminalizing homelessness and outlawing free speech, Bill 59 is the first such bill to directly violate Kamehameha’s Kãnãwai Mãmalahoe (Law of the Splintered Paddle). That law, important enough to be incorporated into Hawaii’s constitution guarantees the right of our humblest citizens to, “A moe i ke ala, ‘a’ohe mea nana e ho’ipilikia,” lie down by the road without fear of harm. Bill 59 criminalizes the homeless by prohibiting them to “lie down on a public sidewalk.” Your laws have driven the homeless from the parks to the roadside where you now subject them to criminal penalties. At last week’s Homeless Assistance Workgroup meeting organized by Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland, I learned that in addition to the homeless encamped on our sidewalks, there are 100,000 “hidden homeless,” those who find ad hoc accommodation but have no place of their own..I also learned that Hawaii is 50,000 new housing units short to cover adequate housing of its people. Surely you must realize that Honolulu is the most expensive city for housing. The median price for a used single family home is $665,000. That’s nine times the median household income. Financial experts advise families to spend no more than three times annual household income for housing. The solution to homelessness is obviously making housing more affordable. Yet you seem to advance monied interests and criminalize the homeless. I’ve heard the homeless dismissed as being mentally ill, but if that’s the case, lack of housing affordability causes mental illness because homelessness increases as housing becomes less affordable. You seek to criminalize the poor when the fix to homelessness is affordable housing. In efforts to reduce homelessness, the public, our politicians, and our social service providers are often at cross-purposes. For politicians each tent on the sidewalk is a huge political protest sign that says, “Our politicians fail us! They are servants of the rich!” So the politician’s main interest isn’t in providing the “safe zones” and “housing first” of campaign promises. The politician’s main goal is to get tents out of public sight. Social service providers are funded by the number of beds they can fill so more often than not they testify in favor of measures that force people into their shelters. But you have to question why people would rather spend the night out in the rain on the sidewalk than check into one of these “shelters.” It sounds less like shelter and more like “jail.” So for the homeless, it’s one jail or the other. The public doesn’t like seeing tents on the street either. They are uncomfortable reminders of financial insecurity and the failure of public policy and the politicians who make those policies. And that exactly what Bill59 is: a very serious failure of public policy. Kamehameha’s Law of the Splintered Paddle was not directed toward the public, it was directed toward the ali’i. The pamphlet on the Law reminds us: “It was actually Kamehameha ‘s way of saying, ‘You have every right to defend yourself against ali’i like myself and others who may abuse their power.” And the ali’i who violated the law was in trouble.“Hewa no, make” break this law and die. Do not pass Bill 59. Abandon the parlors of the rich and help house the poor. Serve your people, and live. Sincerely, H. Doug Matsuoka hdougtestimony@gmail Attachment: Pamphlet on Kanawai Mamalahoe by the HSBA Auxiliary: hawaiLedu/uhelp/files/LawOfTheSplinteredPaddle.pdf
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:44:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015