A Look At How the City’s Storing Homeless Property
HALAWA — The ground is made of rocks, and the 32 large green plastic bins are stored in a fenced-in area. Some are overflowing with stuff, and all have a piece of paper taped to the top identifying what’s inside. A Subway cup — presumably belonging to a city employee — sits on top of one bin.
Nearby, four strollers and a bike that couldn’t fit lie on the ground.
In the two weeks since the government started to enforce the new law attempting to clear personal property from city sidewalks, it’s collected more than three dozen large plastic bins of homeless people’s belongings.
What’s happened to all that stuff?
Civil Beat and KITV4 went to the Halawa Corporation Yard today to find out.
As a condition of the tour, we agreed to keep the exact location of the bins under wraps as a security precaution. When the Department of Parks and Recreation stored personal items under a different city law, there were break-ins. Suffice it to say that the bins are in an inaccessible area at the yard, far from the front entrance on Iwaena Road. We were in a restricted area where members of the public are not allowed.
Two individuals whose belongings were impounded on Jan. 10 — the first day of enforcement around Moiliili Baseball Field, Old Stadium Park and Pawaa In-Ha Park — already came to claim their items. They didn’t wait long — one came on Jan. 11, and one on Jan. 12, according to Tyler Sugihara, chief of the Department of Facility Maintenance’s Road Maintenance Division.
Sugihara is the city official in charge of handling requests to reclaim items. The protocol is that the individuals need to call and schedule an appointment, then come to the yard, present ID and wait at the security gate. The belongings are brought up to the waiting area in bins, and those matching a physical description are returned to their owners.
The city did not charge fees to either of the individuals to come so far, though it might start charging fees if it needs to hire an outside company to manage the operation. Officials declined to share the names of either of the individuals who have claimed items, saying they wanted to look into privacy issues.
The experience of one of those individuals, according to Sugihara, shows the trouble that can arise when the government takes possession of personal items.
He said a woman showed up on Jan. 11, the day after two bins of her belongings were impounded. She specifically needed a piece of medical equipment — the connector piece for a urine drainage bag. The city was unable to locate it for her, and needed to review video it shot during the collection process four times to make sure it never put the item into the storage bin. She showed up with a pastor to help plead her case, and left with four suitcases.
The other individual, a man, originally told city workers when given the 24-hour warning to move his stuff from the sidewalk that he planned to take it to an apartment. But he was called into work the next day and wasn’t present when his stuff was impounded. He first scheduled time to come reclaim his belongings the following day, but had to cancel, again because of work, before coming the second day to take his two bins worth of items — including work clothes — back with him.
In all, however, Sugihara said the process is working well. Clothing, bedding, tents and personal items are being stored in waterproof bins and are available for pickup for free. Perishable items, drug paraphernalia and building materials were disposed of.
“I think that the city has been taking a really conservative approach,” Sugihara said. He said service providers have been getting some homeless people into shelters, “which we’re really excited about. And a lot of people have come up to us and expressed their appreciation because they’re getting their sidewalks and their parks back.”
After the items are stored for 30 days, the city can dispose of them, though Sugihara and DFM Director Westley Chun said they won’t do that immediately on the 30th day. For unclaimed items appraised at more than $1,000, the city will initiate an auction. For everything else, the city’s Department of Environmental Services will take them to the H-POWER waste-to-energy facility and the landfill.
View Civil Beat’s slideshow from the behind-the-scenes tour:
