Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

The pen is mightier than the sledgehammer.

I’m impressed. Today’s editorial by the Civil Beat editorial staff is perhaps the most comprehensive and hard-hitting essay on many of Hawaii’s homeless issues that I have seen to-date. I wish they would somehow grant permission for every newspaper and blogger in the country to reproduce it. It is also quality journalism in every sense of the word.

Parts of it squarely refute the bias and narrow vision of certain other editors, who happen to run the one newspaper we have left in this town. Other parts skewer the City Council and our Mayor for their pursuit of draconian measures even against legal advice, and Governor Ige’s demonstrated lack of attention to the homelessness crisis.

Look, I can only snip a little. You’ll have to read Brower Tempest Obscures Real Issues in Kakaako (Civil Beat, 7/2/2015) yourself. Go do that now.

This snip demonstrates concern and compassion for those living on the street, a quality notably absent in that other group of editors and our city leaders:

The City Council’s belligerent recent expansion of sit-lie — against the advice of attorneys and overriding a mayoral veto — threatens to grow the challenge in Kakaako and sprout new ones in other areas. And as the weather warms this summer, the deplorable conditions on the street are becoming worse, more difficult for residents to bear, and yet remain the only option many see for themselves.

But some are instead using the Brower incident to call for a bigger police force in Kakaako — inexplicable, given that criminal charges are unlikely to be filed in this matter. There is no evidence that tourists or others have been endangered in the area and no real reason to think they might be. Limited police resources should be invested where they’re needed, not used as political window dressing.

More snipping is not fair use of this remarkable material. Please click over and read it as soon as you can.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 7/02/2015 02:08:00 PM