Joan Conrow
August 25, 2010

FAITH ACTION FOR COMMUNITY EQUITY/

For years, Oahu housing advocates found former Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s door shut tight to their concerns. “He wouldn’t even meet with us,” said Jun Yang, an organizer with FACE (Faith Action for Community Equity), which has been pressing the city to address homelessness and the need for affordable homes.

But now that Hannemann has abandoned the mayor’s post in pursuit of higher office, FACE is getting a much warmer reception. Indeed, it might be too warm, with the Honolulu City Council and Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell advancing separate resolutions to bring the city back into the housing arena. While they similar, the Council’s proposal would situate the city housing effort inside the mayor’s office, while Caldwell’s would reorganize the Office of Community Services.

It’s created a slightly sticky situation for FACE, which turned to the Council for help after Hannemann blew off their prayer vigil at Honolulu Hale last fall. With the support of Councilmembers Donovan Dela Cruz and Ann Kobayashi, a resolution was introduced in February to put the question of a city housing office to the voters in the form of a charter amendment.

The measure was headed toward certain passage when the administration changed and Caldwell, who said his passion for housing issues partly prompted his decision to become managing director, was suddenly in a position to implement his own initiatives.

“We need to work with the private sector to see what the city can do to make it easier to build more [city] core housing, because housing is the only way to deal with homelessness,” he told the Weekly. “We will not be adding to the bureaucracy, but seeing how we can make use of the private sector and nonprofits. We need to have better interaction, provide incentives.”

Housing activists were initially skeptical at the turn-around. “Caldwell’s position is 180 degrees from Hannemann’s,” said the Rev. Robert Nakata, a longtime FACE board member and former state representative. “Hannemann flat out opposed us.”

But after meeting with Caldwell and his staff, FACE organizers came away assured of his sincerity. They also agreed to back his plan to expand the duties of an existing city agency to include the added responsibilities and redefined priorities suggested by its new name: the Housing and Community Services Office. The Council’s resolution would put the housing office under the mayor.

“If Kirk Caldwell really, really means this and will move it forward, then we support it,” Yang said.

Nakata said the group also wants written confirmation from Caldwell, who supports selling city-owned housing projects, that he will push to have the projects remain affordable for perpetuity and direct any funds from such sales back into affordable housing.

“We will be insisting upon that, and this is the one item that may change our attitude toward [Caldwell’s] resolution [241],” Nakata said.

Council members, who heard–and deferred — Caldwell’s proposed resolution last week, were a bit taken aback by both the administration’s dramatic policy change and FACE’s shifting alliance. “They think we have sold out somehow and bought into the new Administration,” said the Rev. Alan Mark, president of FACE. “Now what we have to do is re-educate them. The two resolutions are nearly the same, word for word.”

Except one, of course, would be the work of the Council, while the other would be attributed to Caldwell.

“So long as we get a city housing [plan] in place to help the homeless, we’re happy,” Mark said. “We don’t care who gets the credit.”

Political hay isn’t the only issue at stake. FACE has stepped behind Caldwell’s resolution in part because it believes the Community Services office is better suited to administer housing services. But its leadership is also wary of putting the issue on the ballot.

“It’s a bird in the hand,” Mark said of Caldwell’s resolution, which could be implemented immediately. “With some voters there’s a knee-jerk reaction. They see it as another added bureaucracy, another layer of government. We don’t have the resources to run a public education campaign to counter that.”

FACE organizers acknowledge that some voters may be leery of endorsing the city’s re-entry into the housing arena. Following the corruption scandal associated with the construction of Kukui Plaza 12 years ago, Honolulu residents voted overwhelmingly to abolish the housing department, leaving it the only county in Hawaii without one.

Voters also could balk at the expense. Some $124,000 already has been set aside for a couple of positions in the FY 2011 budget for an office of housing attached to the Mayor, according to an email from Council Budget Committee Chairman Nestor Garcia. Caldwell’s plan to reorganize the Community Services Office is estimated to cost about $200,000. The two positions already budgeted by the Council could be redirected to that initiative, Garcia said, and “the balance of the $200,000 could come from a combination of federal and other general operating funds.”

Under either scenario, the city isn’t looking at becoming a developer or landlord.

“My real concern is how we see this office,” Garcia wrote. “I believe all parties want the office to only coordinate and advocate for housing across the entire spectrum — including working with developers to see if they set aside a percentage of housing developments (include transit oriented development) for the affordable category (as opposed to the market category) to housing for the homeless and other special needs (elderly, independent living for handicapped, etc.). We need to also make sure that the affordable housing that is now in the city’s inventory–and in the process of turning the inventory over to the private sector (hopefully, non-profit) remain available for the existing tenants–as well as remain in the affordable housing category. We do not want the office to become a developer. I saw that happen with the state–and the result was mixed. The city should only facilitate the development of housing–not build and operate.”

Caldwell agrees. “When the city manages it, it doesn’t do so well.”

While Caldwell’s resolution seems like a surer bet than a ballot initiative, FACE organizers realize that supporting his plan is also something of a gamble, since the mayor’s seat is up for grabs. “If Kirk Caldwell is not re-elected mayor, the restructuring will already have begun,” Yang said. “If the city starts to move in a different direction, we will push back. No matter what, the housing advocates will have to move forward.”

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FACE (Faith Action for Community Equity) has been pressing for a city housing office to bring an intense focus in the city on affordable housing, which is the true solution to the growing affordable housing and homeless crisis we face.

The renewed focus on safe zones for the homeless is needed and necessary in this crisis, but we should never view them as the endpoint solution for homelessness.

A concerted, focused and integrated effort in both homelessness and affordable housing is desperately needed among all levels of government, private sector developers (for-profit and nonprofit), service providers and advocacy groups.

Leadership on Oahu should come from the city because so many pieces of the possible solutions for these issues lie with the city.

Unfortunately, for over a decade, Mayor Mufi Hannemann has taken the strong position that the city has no responsibility for affordable housing or homelessness. He has, therefore, been against the city actively playing the lead role for intense efforts to find solutions.

As he departs the city, he speaks of his collaborative skills as a problem solver. This changed attitude, if it is more than public relations management, gives hope for solutions.

In any case, his departure creates the real opportunity to create a City Office of Housing to play the lead role.

Resolution 10-38, introduced with the help and support of FACE and several City Council members, would do just that. Council member Donovan Dela Cruz, with support from Council members Ann Kobayashi, Romy Cachola and now Rod Tam, Ikaika Anderson, Todd Apo and Lee Donohue, appears to have the necessary votes to put the office of housing on the November ballot for a charter amendment.

Dela Cruz, with the help of other Council members, put money into next year’s budget to fund the office for a year. But the charter amendment is needed to make it permanent

Hannemann did sign the budget, which we hope means that his opposition is not as strong as it was. Also, since he insists that affordable housing and homelessness are state responsibilities, if elected governor, we expect him to make this a top priority.

He and his administration were the only public opponents of Resolution 10-38.

FACE continues to educate other Council members on the reasons for the resolution. Across the nation, it is the counties and cities that lead efforts to address affordable housing and homelessness. Much of the federal funding for these issues flows through these same entities.

Honolulu has a poor record of using these resources. It is the only city of its size in the nation without a housing office. Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, all far smaller than Oahu, each have a housing office.

Resolution 10-38 faces two more hearings at the City Council in August. Public support is needed to put the city housing office on the November ballot.

We expect that all the gubernatorial, mayoral and City Council candidates will support this resolution.

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Community group says “no fair” to TheBus price hikes

Last week’s kickoff to a petition campaign against TheBus’ fare hike–which went into effect July 1–not only highlighted the community’s aggravation with cost increases but also brought to the fore some deep discrepancies between the city’s rationale and the perception of community groups.

Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE), an interfaith organization that strives to develop leadership within its congregations and contribute to community building, is hosting the month-long petition drive.

To launch the campaign on Tuesday, July 6, FACE leaders and members of the Boys and Girls Club sought bus rider signatures for the petition–which demands that Mayor Mufi Hannemann reconsider the fare increases–at Ala Moana’s Kona Street depot and then across the street on Kapiolani Blvd.

“We want to ask the mayor and his administration to reconsider the bus hike,” said Jun Yang, FACE organizer. “A lot of the families are on the edge right now, and all of us are feeling the squeeze. This would be a very difficult time to ask people to pay more to get to work.”

FACE’s objection to the increases is rooted in an apparent discrepancy between the fare hikes–up 25 cents for a one-way adult fare and 10 dollars for an adult monthly pass–and the fact that TheBus experienced a substantial surge in revenue over the past fiscal year.

“At this point, they’ve collection a million dollars more than they did last year,” said Yang. “So in our organization’s opinion, why, then, do you have to go through with this hike? Is there a reason for this?”

Yang suspects that revenue from the fare increases will be diverted to the rail budget.

“Are they moving money traditionally meant for the bus system to budgets for the rail? If they’re trying to balance their budget in some way, this is not the way to do it. They shouldn’t be targeting the bus services.”

While FACE supports rail, Yang asserts that rail development is too far in the future to be considered a beneficiary of funds allotted for TheBus.

Wayne Yoshioka, director of the Transportation Services Department, says the fare increases are necessary to keep up with the rising costs of the materials and services that maintain bus operations. In response to FACE’s assertion that revenue from increased fares might be allotted for the rail budget, Yoshioka said that such assertions are “falsities.”

“I think it was misinterpreted,” Yoshioka said of a financial outline for the rail, which listed dipping into bus revenues for the rail budget as a worst-case scenario.

“We’re trying to look out for the community as much as possible,” said Yoshioka, who emphasized that the fare increases did not apply to seniors or the disabled. Before this set of fare increases–the first increase occurred at the start of the last fiscal year–TheBus fares hadn’t gone up since 2003.

But regardless of whether FACE is unclear as to where revenue from fare hikes will go, the issue remains that the increases are already taking a toll on bus riders.

“This is not the time to do this,” said Yang. “We’re asking [Hannemann] to reconsider this bus hike because, right now, all the people that we’ve been talking to along the bus routes have been telling us that it’s hard for them already. Two dollars and fifty cents may not mean much to some people, but you’re talking about $2.50 each ride, every day.”

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By Rosemarie Bernardo

Soon after stepping out of a city bus at a stop near Ala Moana Center, 23-year-old Ernest Yimartino signed a petition against the recent bus fare hike with no hesitation.

“It’s a bit much,” Yimartino, of Manoa, said of the increases. He said he catches the bus daily to get to his two jobs, at Gold Buyers Hawaii at Ala Moana Center and at FedEx in Hawaii Kai.

The Faith Action Community Equity group kicked off yesterday its monthlong petition campaign against the bus fare increases, which took effect July 1.

The price of an adult monthly bus pass jumped to $60 from $50, while a youth monthly bus pass increased to $30 from $25. One-way bus fares for adults and youth increased to $2.50 from $2.25, and $1.25 from $1, respectively. The new fares are the second half of a two-part increase that began July 1, 2009.

Petition organizer Jun Yang said the hike is another fee residents are forced to endure in today’s fragile economy. “These increases are impacting our families,” Yang said.

About eight people, including youths from the Boys and Girls Club, collected signatures from bus riders yesterday at a stop on Kapiolani Boulevard fronting Walgreens in Ala Moana.

The group represents members of 24 churches. Each church will adopt a nearby bus stop to collect signatures for the petition calling for Mayor Mufi Hannemann to reconsider the fare increase.

FACE and Wayne Yoshioka, city director of the Department of Transportation Services, said they want to schedule a meeting to discuss the issue. “We know the bus fare is a bargain,” Yoshioka said.

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On Tuesday, the group launched a petition drive at this bus stop on Kona Street.

The bus fare increase went into effect on july first, raising one-way adult fares by 25 cents and the monthly bus pass by ten dollars.

“With the petitions, we hope just to get a bunch of people to understand that these things are not out of their control, that we do live in a system of government where people have a say over what happens in their cities and communities,” says Zacahry Fraser with FACE.

The group says the fare increase was needed because the city is diverting money from the bus to the rail project.

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Oahu voters would get to decide whether the city should create an Office of Housing under one of a handful of proposed Charter amendments advancing in the City Council.

The Council already has approved one ballot question: asking voters whether the city should create a semiautonomous Public Transit Authority to oversee all aspects of the proposed $5.5 billion rail transit project.

Under proposals still being considered by the Council, voters also would decide on creating a housing office and on enacting stricter conflict-of-interest rules on Council members. There also are various “housekeeping” measures to have the charter conform with updated state laws.

The Office of Housing would coordinate efforts at tackling homelessness and affordable housing.

“The establishment of a central body within the mayor’s office will ensure that agencies of the state and federal governments, private organizations, nonprofit groups, community organizations, and individuals will work in partnership to address issues regarding affordable housing, senior housing, special needs housing and homelessness,” states the proposal, Resolution 10-38.

The city had a housing department until voters approved eliminating it in 1998. That came after the start of the Ewa Villages $6 million relocation scandal, in which Michael Kahapea was convicted of theft.

The Rev. Bob Nakata, a former state lawmaker and Honolulu president of the advocacy group Faith Action for Community Equity, said greater work on affordable housing is needed to address homelessness.

“Without a focused body in the city to attack the housing issue, homelessness will continue to be out of control,” Nakata said at a recent hearing on the Charter amendments.

Resolution 08-232 would add a section to the Charter’s section on conflicts of interest, stating that no elected or appointed officer or employee shall “participate in or vote on any matter in which the officer or employee knows or has reason to know that he or she has a direct personal or private interest.”

Chuck Totto, executive director of the city Ethics Commission, said Kauai County adopted a similar measure in 2008.

“It gives you a good opportunity to say, ‘We understand that from time to time we’ll have conflicts of interest, and if we do, we won’t participate and we won’t vote,’” Totto said.

Any proposed Charter amendment must be passed by the Council by August to be placed on the ballot this fall. Council members say they would like to limit the number of ballot questions to five.

CHARTER AMENDMENTS
A look at some of the proposed Charter amendments being considered by the City Council. Adoption also would be subject to voter approval.

>> Office of Housing: Proposes the creation of an Office of Housing within the Mayor’s Office to oversee affordable housing efforts. (Resolution 10-38)

>> Prior employment conflict: Asks voters if a city employee should be able to participate or decide on city matters if that person was directly involved in the matter while employed with a private entity in the previous 12 months. (Resolution 10-15)

>> Conflict of interest: Proposes to bar elected or appointed officials from participating in or voting on any matter in which the official knows, or has reason to know, that he or she has a direct personal or private interest. (Resolution 08-232)

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The Faith Action Community Equity group will kick off their month-long petition campaign against the recent bus fare hike at Ala Moana Center on Tuesday.

Members of the group will ask bus riders to sign a petition calling for Mayor Mufi Hannemann to reconsider the recent bus fare increase that took effect July 1.

“Families are having a hard time,” said Jun Yang, one of the organizers of FACE. “People are already losing jobs. It’s not a good time for anybody.”

FACE represents 24 churches comprised of working and low-income families.

The campaign will start at 10 a.m. at the Kona Street bus depot near Nordstrom. In the following weeks, members will adopt a bus stop near their church to collect signatures from bus riders.

“We want to collect as many signatures as we can,” said Yang. The group plans to deliver the petition to Hannemann and his administration once the campaign ends.

Bus riders also can sign the petition online at www.ipetitions.com/petition/unfareincrease/. For more information, go to www.facehawaii.org or call 522-1304.

Click here for original article.

Click this link to go to the KHON website. There is a video clip of the news story. We were the Top Story of the 6:00 newscast on Saturday June 26th.

The following is the news article from their website:

Faith Group Wants Commitment from Hawaii Political Candidates
Reported by: Brianne Randle
Email: brandle@khon2.com
Last Update: 6/26 7:42 pm

Faith Action for Community Equity also known as “FACE” called on the who’s who of the upcoming 2010 elections. Candidates for the city and state’s top jobs.

FACE represents over 50 church groups on both Maui and Oahu.

2010 FACE Issues Brochure

The process began in January at a leadership training. The platform is the result of three months of small group meetings, also known as Talk Stories, that were held in our faith organizations and community organizations on the island of Oahu.
47 Talk Stories in 20 congregations which was attended by 781 leaders all throughout the island.

The Talk Stories led to our Issues Dialogue meeting where leaders from all of our faith institutions, community organizations, and local union came together to decide what issues to work on for this year through 2011.

Education + Opportunities
Affordable Housing, Land Use + Homelessness
Jobs + Economic Development
Immigration Reform

FACE leaders will be gathering at First United Methodist Church on June 26th at 9:30 AM for the FACE Accountability Assembly to hold those running for public office accountable to the community by asking each of them to work with us on our issues. It will be the largest meeting FACE will have this year.

For more information, please contact the FACE Oahu office.