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Joe Damrell — formerly of Indianapolis, current address Kapiolani Park makai — seemed not to mind the media spotlight Tuesday midday at his favored park bench.

“I’m a victim of circumstance,” said Damrell, as reporters took notes and recorded audio and video.

With his life’s belongings next to him — stuffed into bags and a cart, and scattered around the bench — Damrell explained, “I don’t commandeer tables like they say we do. I know the public feels threatened by us…I’m not here to hassle anybody.”

Rida Cabanilla, chairwoman of the state House Committee on Housing, sat patiently next to Damrell, listening. Nearby was Rep. John Mizuno, chairman of the House Human Services Committee and vice chairman Tom Brower, and journalists from two TV stations, a daily newspaper, an independent weekly and an online news service.

Asked what he thought about a “homeless safe zone,” a new concept being pushed by the state Legislature to secure Oahu land so that homeless people can camp in peace, Damrell said he was for the idea “100 percent.”

“I feel ostracized,” he said, as photographers snapped shots.

The three House reps had invited journalists to join them and others in Kapiolani Park Tuesday to “discuss viable solutions” for the homeless crisis.

It was the latest in a string of hearings, community outreach efforts and media reports on the matter. The continued attention on homelessness is keeping the social problem in the public eye.

But the visit to the park also showcased the interdependency between government and the fourth estate, and the way they can intrude on the lives of the people officials say they’re trying to help.

It’s been a big year for homelessness. There were the new Oahu ordinances in March that banned shopping carts and closed tents from parks, and the uproar in Chinatown over the proposed River Street Residences.

In the last few weeks alone new data on state, island and city homeless populations was released; homeless people were evicted from beneath an H-1 airport viaduct; a homeless compound was discovered in Waipahu; the Hannemann Administration held a summit on homelessness; and Republicans criticized the mayor for coming late to the issue, given that the state has worked for several years now to expand shelter space.

Each event kept the issue in the headlines and on the evening news, and flooded the Internet.

“Every time we write about this we get all these (web) hits,” one reporter told Civil Beat.

By Tuesday afternoon, not long after the lawmakers and media had left Kapiolani Park, House communications director Georgette Deemer had even tweeted the event, complete . Deemer has 1,543 followers.

Lawmakers Seem to Care

Mizuno, Brower and Cabanilla could be accused of grandstanding, trying to grab headlines in an election year. But that would be a misrepresentation of their work.

In fact, each has been at the forefront of drafting legislation to address homelessness at the state level, and in the past month the House has held a hearing on the national Housing First model — now being attempted here, albeit haltingly — and reports on abuse of the state’s affordable housing system.

Cabanilla plans to reintroduce — yet again — her bill to “reunite” mainland homeless people with their families (i.e., give them a one-way air ticket), something that Cabanilla claims has inspired Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City to “copy my idea.”

On Tuesday, Brower passed out information on , which calls for the development of homeless “safe zones” away from tourists areas like Kapiolani yet equipped with amenities to help people bathe and sleep soundly.

Brower has a legitimate interest in moving homeless people out of Waikiki; it’s his district. He says the solution to ending homelessness is not simply building more shelters.

But legislative resolutions are nonbinding, and safe zones would require the use of city and state land, or private property. The not-in-my-back-yard worries that have stalled the River Street Residences project are certain to crop up on an island as small as Oahu.

“OHA or Hawaiian Homelands could help,” said Cabanilla, noting that many homeless people are Hawaiian.

Seeking the Media’s Help

Sometimes, the lawmakers efforts seem scripted for the media, as when Mizuno asked Pastor Noble George of People of Promise Church to tell about how the group was helping house several Nanakuli homeless people in a Makaha safe zone.

George, invited to attend the media event, modestly explained his church’s work as journalists turned their attention to him.

A politician asking for media coverage (and vice versa) is nothing new, of course. And stories like George’s need to be told, if only to inspire others to follow suit. Religious organizations and social service providers are handling the brunt of work in helping the homeless.

Another made-for-media moment came when Mizuno told how a homeless man he helped fly back to the mainland a few weeks back now had a job — as a photographer at The Denver Post, it seems. The journalists laughed nervously, given the extreme cutbacks of late that have afflicted the industry.

“Can I get his phone number to verify that?” a TV reporter asked.

Still, give credit to these lawmakers for meeting homeless people on their terrain, not in the sterile environment of a committee hearing at the Capitol. The House reps also made a similar sojourn to another homeless-heavy neighborhood — Waianae — in early June, even though the Legislature is not in session.

On Thursday morning, Mizuno, Cabanilla and Brower will convene a hearing at the Capitol to explore possible service providers for the state’s first Housing First pilot program, established by the recently enacted . Cabanilla and Mizuno co-sponosred the bill that led to the act.

Maybe other House members will join the three House reps at the hearing, instead of skipping the meeting, as most did last month. Senators, too.

Who knows how many journalists will be there?