Kolekole beach park rope swing

[Mr nice guy]

Complaining about homeless people when you can be part of the solution makes you...a bitch.

[AKpilot]

Awe! I agree I was coming off as Bitchy, and I apologize for that. But I wonder what are we supposed to do regarding parks like Kolekole? I have been there when all but ONE of the pavilions were overtaken by long term homeless folks with all their things taking up the entire pavilion.

Those pavilions are for folks to have fun in, not for homeless folks to live in. I give to many charities and was even homeless for a few months myself long ago. Are we, the public, supposed to give up access to our parks? I don't hate homeless folks, I just don't appreciate them taking advantage of something that takes away from all of us non-homeless folks. I think it is selfish on their part. They are making their problem, our problem. I know it sounds like a "first world problem" and frankly it is.

However, I love Hamakua, I love it's parks, it's community vibe, and its closeness. Hamakua's parks are a huge part of that. There aren't that many safe places to access the water up our way. Kolekole is one of them. I have talked to one of my friends who refuses to take their children there due to the homeless. "Too much like Hilo!" she says, and she takes them to Laupahoehoe instead. Laupahoehoe had a similar problem and the locals delt with them. I am sure it wasn't pleasant and kind, but you don't see any long term homeless Laupahoehoe way. What you do see there are wonderfull shindigs! Birthday parties, retirements, jam sessions, family reunions, I even saw the Keck folks there on a picnic.

I fear that is no longer the case (or is beginning to be so) at Kolekole. Is it because of the homeless? I don't know enough to say, but I fear it is. I just love our beautiful East side parks, and am sad when the homeless make it impossible to enjoy them they way they were meant to. I don't hate, I just think Kolekole is a uniquel spot; and when I see folks with a household worth of stuff including dogs in pens at the pavilion for 3 months.............it is no longer the Kolekole it once was.

Really didn't mean to sound so angry; long bad day and I let some bad juju into my life. Sorry for the Bitchings Punaweb.......not usually my style.

Aloha!

AKpilot

We're all here, because we're not all there!

[Mr nice guy]

quote:

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Originally posted by AKpilot

...Those pavilions are for folks to have fun in, not for homeless folks to live in. I give to many charities and was even homeless for a few months myself long ago. Are we, the public, supposed to give up access to our parks? I don't hate homeless folks, I just don't appreciate them taking advantage of something that takes away from all of us non-homeless folks. I think it is selfish on their part. They are making their problem, our problem...

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I understand that the original purpose of the pavilions was not to shelter people 24/7 homeless or otherwise. I'm not sure what we're supposed to do other than share the space and leave things in at least better shape than when we used the facility. Since people are unemployed, they have plenty of time to be there before you and to be there long after you're gone. Until there is an ordinance created and enforced, this situation will surely continue to exist. I'll agree it can appear selfish, but do you know what their other choice is of where to exist? Their problem is our problem.

[lavalava]

good point. where are the homeless shelters in Hilo? how many beds do we have total?

[dakine]

Their problem is our problem..

Ah yes the problem.. what is it? Corporate greed? A society where everything is predicated on a get for yourself and @#$% the other guy mentality? I mean as long as you are all cushy up in Pohakea all the homeless are just some folks spoiling your day? An eyesore? A what? A threat to your nice everything in its place and may we all have milk and cookies after dinner kine world? But gee certainly not a reason to call the frickin police?

And btw.. the Hamakua District starts (Hilo side) in Ookala.. Kolekole ain't nowhere near it. In fact I kinda think it isn't even in the North Hilo district.

But the homeless.. I don't know what the solution is but can promise you that the "problem" is only going to get bigger.. more.. and a lot harder to deal with as time goes by. Haven't you noticed, the guys at the top, the all so frickin holy one percenters keep taking more and are not sharing it. I heard someone suggested that if we just kill off the top 100 richest people on the planet and allow their money to spread out rather than be hoarded as it is that they have so much just that would tip the balance back in favor of a more equitable society.

It's a dilemma for sure, but one that requires compassion more than anything. Kindness, and a little selflessness, would do way more to help than calling the police! After all this is Hawaii for God's sake, you know, the aloha state!

Maybe if we had a more locally based economy? Didn't give all our money to Walmart to ship somewhere else? Grew more of our own food? But hey that would take some doing, some denying the corporations their way. Not being cattle but actually thoughtful people caring about each other rather than whether or not our parks are a sterile "safe" environment free of 'those' kinds of people?

[Kapoho Joe]

In light of the income inequality on our planet Dakine, you have 3 options the way I see it. 1 - General Strike. 2 - Violent Coup. 3 - Keep doing the same thing and hope that something different happens.

[dmbwest]

Eh Dakine .. Who you hanging with : )

" I heard someone suggested that if we just kill off the top 100 richest people ... "

aloha,
pog

[AKpilot]

I know, sounded like a total hapa Haole, and I know Kolekole is N. Hilo and not Hamakua. I just know that the homeless problem is not as simple as poor mums and dads or folks in their cars for a week or two. It's deeper and more troubled. I grew up in inner city Michigan. I know what true poverty looks like. I lived in a house with no running water or electricity until I was 7. I knew hunger. I have pity and compassion; but I also know at some point, one makes a choice, and pulls themselves up by their bootstraps. My mother and father did. It is HARD, but it can be done. I remember sleeping in the Olds in my snowsuit and washing in a bucket of boiled water outside in the snow. It's easy to squat in a pavilion. It's hard to make the life choices that steer one AWAY from homelessness.

AKpilot

We're all here, because we're not all there!

[dakine]

I know, sounded like a total hapa Haole

Nope, no hapa in it at all.. pure kine

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hapa%20haole

[lavalava]

who cares what you “sounded like” - this is a serious problem. one that wont be solved with the classic island hang loose attitude. you see how oahu is handling their homeless issue? if we dont want things to get worse here we need to do something different because the status quo has us headed for one big tent city