Tourism paradise Hawaii: Waikiki lawmaker is attacking with a sledgehammer

Elected Hawaii State Representative Brower can be seen these days in his shorts and tee-shirt, brandishing a sledgehammer as he runs around Waikiki destroying shopping carts that he thinks may be used by homeless people in this tropical resort and party city. This is his way of dealing with the still unresolved homeless problem in the American Aloha State.

It’s “aloha” for high-spending tourists and a sledgehammer for Hawaii’s homeless people in Waikiki.

This state representative for the district of the world-class travel and tourism destination of Waikiki on the island of Oahu in Hawaii is also a member of the Tourism Committee for the Hawaii State House. Tourism is the largest industry in the State.

Visitors enjoy luxury hotels for sometimes $1,000 a night if they want to stay in an oceanfront room in Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue. And at night they share their expensive vacation home surroundings with an ever-increasing number of homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk of this prestigious avenue.

Hotels here enjoy a record average 93% occupancy rate, and corporate greed makes them want to keep every dime of that money continually flowing in, so there is no mercy for the un-groomed homeless who are sometimes just wearing shorts as they walk around barefoot by their resorts in this vacation paradise.

The state is almost bankrupt, since money earned through tourism does not stay in the 50th US State-so what can be done about the poor homeless folks? Some actually arrived as tourists.

Waikiki Beach is not busy during the night hours, so the homeless can pretty much stay there without being bothered, although the police will arrest them from sleeping on the permanent benches that dot Kalakaua Avenue.

For many, that leaves the sidewalks. During the day, Waikiki is an attractive place for the homeless, because tourists will often contribute a dollar or change to them, something the welfare office does not do if you don’t have a permanent address. It’s heartbreaking to see organizations on the island of Oahu asking for donations for homeless children and veterans.

The social service relies on churches. The State seems to care less, and the private industry is not ready to contribute to taxes necessary to resolve this problem once and for all.

The only belongings that many of the homeless have are kept in shopping carts taken from a grocery store – a convenient way to store what few items they have and transport them with ease.

Some of these homeless people may have very well voted to elect Hawaii State Representative Brower. But this legislator has his own vision of dealing with the “unsightliness” of the homeless, and he has deemed himself the prosecutor and judge of these people who cannot defend themselves. What does this say about the so-called “Aloha Spirit,” or should one say “Aloha Hate” towards this group of people.

The representative was definitely successful in his PR effort getting his message across. This story was published in news outlets around the globe. This may be great coverage for Hawaii and to promote tourism – perhaps for some.

As a responsible member of the Hawaii based travel and tourism media, eTN waited before following other media and reached out to the Honolulu Police Department, and an officer said they did not receive any complaints from homeless citizens when Representative Brower went around and destroyed shopping carts with a sledgehammer. How could they complain? These carts actually belong to the grocery stores, so they can’t report that someone damaged their property.

But then why is a State Representative being allowed to damage property that is also not his? When eTN asked about the legality for an elected official to destroy private property, the Honolulu Police Department spokeswomen said, she could not speculate on this, but, again, no one had filed any complaints.

eTN called Representative Brower’s office and got his voicemail. The voicemail box was full, so no message could be left.

eTN also called the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, but no one has returned that call yet.

“I got tired of telling people I’m trying to pass laws,” Brower told a local news outlet. “I want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets.”

Brower added that he returns good shopping carts to stores, and hasn’t yet taken a cart from a homeless person, though he hasn’t ruled out doing so in the future. Critics are hammering Brower over the approach.

Brower insists that his method isn’t intended to intimidate.

“I don’t want to be threatening to anybody,” he said. “I think it’s threatening to steal things and then walk around with them like it’s their own.”

In a statement made to a Honolulu daily, Rep. Brower is reported to have said: “It’s time to put down the sledgehammer. The point that I was trying to make has been made. Now that the issue of shopping carts is on our minds, the question is are we going to move forward and try to solve it or just let it become status quo?”

The eTN publisher pledged to purchase a number of shopping carts and donate them to the homeless.

Publisher Juergen Steinmetz wants to encourage every business on Oahu to also purchase a number of carts to give homeless citizens a legal way to carry their belongings and protect them from crazy politicians.

Steinmetz said: “If violent law makers come around wanting to destroy these carts it would force the Honolulu Police Department to arrest them. This would perhaps encouraged these law makers to look at the homeless problem more serious and actually do something to resolve it.”