[deOccupy Honolulu has been continuously encamped at historic Thomas Square Park since November 5, 2013. They recently moved from the Beretania Street side of the park to the King Street side. What will it take to get them to leave the park? They answer in this press release. Doug]
deOccupy Honolulu Submit Resolution to End Encampment
(de)Occupy Honolulu //
www.deOccupyHonolulu.org
Facebook:
Facebook.com/OccupyHonolulu
Twitter:
@OccupyHonolulu Hashtag:
#OHNL
MEDIA ALERT -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In response to Bills
2,
6, &
7 (de)Occupy Honolulu submits resolution to end encampment
Honolulu 3/6 – As (de)Occupy Honolulu sues the City & County of Honolulu in federal court over deprivation of civil rights during raids; the city fights back by criminalizing the houseless population in an attempt to remove the protesters. The City Council has submitted Bills 2, 6, & 7, targeting the houseless. Bill 2 is much like the current Bill 54, however makes sidewalks no longer public property. Bill 6 criminalizes anyone who has a tent on the sidewalk. The fine is up to $1000 and/or up to a year in jail with the instant confiscation of belongings. Bill 7 would define tents as a “nuisance” with the instant confiscation of belongings that will cost $200 to retrieve.
City Council member Ikaika Anderson has been at the forefront of this bills that will further criminalize the houseless in an effort to remove the movement. “Where do the rights of the Occupiers end,” asks Anderson. The City Council is not the only official supporting the legislation. Mayor Kirk Caldwell had stated that he intends to sign the Bill 7 and has requested city officials to escalate raids to every week.
ACLU Hawaii senior attorney Daniel Gluck reviewed the bills for city officials, and determined that they were not constitutional. “We intend to oppose,” Gluck said, “If implemented, the ACLU will be forced to bring a lawsuit in federal court.”
After sidewalk closures for tree trimming, the world’s longest running Occupy encampment moved from the north side of the park to the south side of the park. The movement has been hard at work discussing real solutions to the houseless problem. A resolution is being submitted to the city proposing to end (de)Occupy’s 24/7 vigil, that highlights the houseless crisis, at Thomas Square.
Resolution:
Let it be known that among the purposes of the ongoing DeOccupy Honolulu protest at Thomas Square are:
To assert that the continued occupation of Hawai‘i is illegitimate, and has been so since January 17th 1893;
To follow in the footsteps of Queen Liliʻuokalani and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in nonviolent resistance to injustice, especially against the poorest of the poor;
To stand in solidarity with the houseless, under the protection of Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle, which is enshrined in the Hawai’i State Constitution and emblazoned on the badge of the Honolulu police, and guarantees the right of the people to lay by the roadside undisturbed and in safety;
To assert that people come first before corporations, profit, and government;
To compel the City & County of Honolulu and State of Hawai‘i to stop treating being poor and houseless as a crime;
To stand in solidarity with those who are otherwise invisible, looked down upon, treated as criminals, chased from the streets and parks, harassed, abused and forgotten.
The changes we seek include, but are not limited to:
That the State of Hawai‘i and the City and County of Honolulu recognize and respect the rights and sovereignty of Kanaka Maoli and all nationals of Hawai‘i, and actively work to end the illegal occupation of Hawai‘i by the United States of America;
That the City and County of Honolulu and the State of Hawai‘i will abide by Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle, and protect the houseless, fishing villages and people living off the land instead of harassing them;
That the $4,100,000 of opt-out in-lieu fees that were assessed for Assistance Housing, but were funneled into the General Fund, be reinstated to help Hawai‘i’s houseless;
That opt-out in-lieu fees be raised on all new housing development to the Hawai‘i County level of $115,000 per unit, and that those funds be provided for Assistance Housing, i.e. shelter and low-income rentals, with a mandatory lock on those fees to prevent them from being diverted away from Assistance Housing programs;
In response to an ineffective shelter system, which provides only 2,000 beds for the 6,000+ houseless population, one-third of whom are children, that the City and County of f Honolulu and the State of Hawaiʻi will provide housing without any compromise of human and civil rights, and accommodate couples, families, pet owners, and people of all gender identities through abundant shelters of quality and Housing First;
That the State of Hawai‘i raise Minimum Wage to a Living Wage in line with Hawai‘i’s cost of living, as at least half of the houseless work, yet cannot afford housing in Hawai‘i;
That the City & County of Honolulu repeal Ordinance 10-26 and 11-029 to protect the rights of the houseless and end expensive, abusive and counterproductive police raids and harassment, and not enact any new ordinances of similar effect or intent;
That shelters allow the houseless to stay in shelters during the day when they are sick, and end curfews and other rules that do not respect basic freedom and human dignity;
That all government programs follow international human rights standards, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We are committed to these goals because they are the fair, just, and right thing to do.
- END -
[Note: deOccupy has invited the public to join in a sign waving today (Wednesday 3/6/13) at 1:30 to coincide with an expected seizure raid (of signs among other things) at 2:30pm. Doug]
