His plan to remove homeless campers who were illegally camping in county parks campers is a success, Mayor Bryan Baptiste said.
But, Baptiste said, he still has a lot of work to do to solve the homeless problem on Kaua’i.
“The process has worked wonderfully,” said Baptiste in a statement handed out at a press conference Friday. “We will now be able to better address the peripheral problems in our parks, such as drug-related activities and underage drinking, with more clarity and focus.”
“We had to take a strong stance with this, so people would focus on their situations and take steps toward making their life’s decisions,” the mayor said. “But it doesn’t eliminate the problems (causing homelessness). It doesn’t end here today. What happened this week is not the answer to the long-term problem.”
The first step, he said, was clearing the parks so that the police would be able to better patrol the parks for illegal activity.
“We now have a better recognition of who is supposed to be there, and who’s not,” Baptiste said. “We hope to see a significant drop in crime in the county parks,” with added police patrols.
He said that he had heard numerous complaints from residents not feeling safe in the parks and felt he had to do something about it.
“If our people feel intimidated by going to the parks, it’s my responsibility to make the parks” feel safe, clean, and comfortable, Baptiste said. “It was a difficult decision, but it had to be done. I lost a lot of sleep over this.”
After a 30-day notice was issued to campers 35 days ago, saying that the illegal campers needed to be out of county facilities, a partnership between the mayor’s office, Kaua’i Economic Opportunity, the Continuum of Care Committee and others began approaching park residents and trying to get them help.
“Using a one-on-one approach, we have been able to find solutions,” said Baptiste said. “All kinds of alternatives worked.”
The mayor said some moved in with family and friends, others found rentals through KEO, some churches pitched in, and others moved off-island.
At the end of the 30-day grace period, only three families who had been living in county parks were in need of social services assistance, said Stephanie Fernandes, homeless and housing program director for KEO.
And those people were helped using an emergency persons in need grant for temporary shelter for some of those affected, Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county spokeswoman, said in the statement.
According to acting Kaua’i Police Department Chief, Wilfred Ihu, KPD officers and county park rangers issued only two illegal camping citations this week, at Hanama’ulu Beach Park on Monday.
The two camps cited, one single person and one family, were not evicted, and KEO and the Continuum of Care Committee found them a place to go, he said.
According to the mayor, between 100 and 110 people were camping in the parks, using the numbers gathered by the Care-a-Van, which supplied food to the parks.
Of those, 40 to 50 people had expired permits, but “the homeless problem is much bigger than what’s in our parks,” he said.
“Until we can get more affordable housing, (homeless) numbers will continue to grow,” he said.
To alleviate this, he said, the county will be working with KEO to create emergency housing and transitional housing.
The mayor said the county is currently working with the state to get an Executive Order so that the county can get some land to put up the housing. However, he would not release the location until he had time to meet with the residents.
A desired site has been identified, and the county, the state, and KEO are taking necessary steps in the process, such as completion of an environmental assessment and proper permitting, said Bernard Carvalho, director of the Offices of Community Assistance in the mayor’s press release.
“We hope the project will be completed and operational within two years,” at the latest, Baptiste said.
Until then, he has another piece of property in mind to provide land for a temporary camping facility. But, again, he would not release the location until he talked to the community first.
“We will continue to meet on a regular basis, to try to implement various options until the shelter is completed,” the mayor said. “There are still homeless in our parks, and this partnership will continue to work with these families and individuals – one by one – to see how we can assist with their mainstreaming into the housing market.
“This is a real opportunity for Kaua’i’s people to truly demonstrate the aloha spirit and the generosity in their hearts,” Baptiste said. “I know I cannot address this problem alone; the support of our community is needed.”
Staff writer Tom Finnegan can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226)
