Why Is No One Really Listening To What The Westside Is Saying?
City and state officials have been talking about helping West Oahu residents and business for decades. So why are things worse than ever?
One of the main themes we heard when Civil Beat reporters, editors and operations team members spent the day in Waianae on Thursday was that crime and violence has become noticeably worse in the past year or so.
People say the powers that be roll out to the Westside for a town hall or a community meeting when a major incident makes the headlines or the TV news. People turn out, sometimes in large numbers, as they did on Aug. 21 at a from the area.
People say they talk and leaders listen. But no one really hears them.
Or at least people don’t think anyone hears them because once the meeting wraps up, there’s no follow-up, no communication from the officials who seemed so eager to help.
Perhaps it’s no wonder that the citizens of Waianae think that once the Nov. 5 election is over it will be a long time before they see these lawmakers again.
Civil Beat can’t make these officials pay attention, of course. As journalists, we can’t and won’t lobby for any particular program or action.
But what we can do is shine a light on the community — not just the things that make the evening news but also the many, many ways people on the Westside are doing their darndest to keep the neighborhoods the kinds of places they are proud to live. And we can try to keep people’s ideas and concerns more squarely in front of the city and state officials who can do something.
I say “try” because I’ll admit Civil Beat is guilty of the same kind of parachute treatment that we criticize the cops and the legislators and the Honolulu city hall types of giving the community. We drop in, stay awhile and then fade.
In 2021, we launched a project aimed at covering the Westside more comprehensively. We hosted a few listening circles and beefed up our social media focus on West Oahu. We did some decent stories and even an in-depth project on the landfill. It lasted about a year and then we ran out of steam, distracted by other news that needed the attention of our relatively small staff.
That’s not to say we haven’t written about the Westside since then. We’ve covered breaking news and community initiatives, state and local elections and other issues. We’ve held several pop-up newsrooms in Ewa, Nanakuli and Waianae. But we’ve let go of the focus that clearly the community needs and deserves.
So we’re trying it again. No special project this time, just as much ongoing reporting and focused enterprise as we can manage. It will definitely be a work in progress.
I’ll start my part of this renewed effort by telling you what I heard from community members who stopped by our pop-up newsroom at the Waianae Public Library on Thursday. Several dozen folks showed up over the course of the day and evening, and while all had specific reasons for coming, with distinct concerns and ideas they wanted to share, there were, perhaps not surprisingly, common themes.
Things are noticeably worse: There have been more shootings and gun violence in the past couple years. There are more fights and altercations at the schools, more bullying especially on social media. Domestic violence and physical disputes are happening at gas stations, parking lots and even just on the side of the road. Thieves are ripping off stores without challenge and vandalism is frequent. Homeless people in need of help are seemingly everywhere.
Government response is all for show: Politicians show up when something big happens, such as the recent spate of shootings earlier this summer. But they disappear after the town hall ends. There is no communication back to the community, no updates, no way for people to know what has come of their suggestions. People want some sort of easily accessible community message board or perhaps a frequently publicized online site where regular updates are posted and questions are answered. People want to know what is being done and if it’s slow-going, that’s OK. Just tell them. They get it, they just want to be kept in the loop. And heard.
People have become cynical. They think elected officials are only there to get votes and they disappear when the election’s over. They universally love Honolulu City Council member Andria Tupola, who they say cares about the community and works to get things done. Rep. Cedric Gates, not so much. Many told us he has been MIA since the Aug. 21 town hall he co-hosted with Tupola and other officials.
(Civil Beat is hosting a “Meet the Candidates” election pop-up on Wednesday at the Waianae High School cafeteria from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Gates has committed to be there; his GOP opponent Samantha DeCorte, has declined to attend. We hope she changes her mind.)
Honolulu police are ineffective: The uptick in violence has brought more police to the Westside, but people say the increase in police presence mostly takes the form of highly visible traffic enforcement operations on Farrington Highway. That may result in safer streets and fewer pedestrian incidents, but they say it has done little to help with violence. In fact, people think it may be making the situation worse because paying hefty fines for, say no car registration, is putting more financial stress on a population that didn’t have the money to register the vehicle to begin with. More stress means more crime and more violence.
Resources are not getting where they’re needed: The news frequently includes stories about millions of dollars in grants being directed to Waianae and the Westside. But where’s the money? There are only two after-school programs, for instance, and it’s obvious that many people need help but aren’t getting it.
People are scared: This is a town where everyone knows everyone. Extended families are a big part of the population and many people told us it’s one of the things that make Waianae the place they want to live despite the problems.
But the closeness of the community also creates an environment where people feel intimidated. They know who is causing the problems and they often know something bad is going to happen before it does. But they fear retaliation and don’t want to risk harm to their families, especially their kids, if they speak up.
People want to see authorities put in place some sort of system that allows them to speak up about problems without fear of being identified. They say they would welcome a way to tip off police about criminal activity and even the people doing it but they need to remain anonymous, in some cases even from the police themselves.
One other message came through loud and clear at our pop-up last week: People who live in Waianae love living in Waianae. “It’s beautiful here,” one woman said. The environment is inviting, the beaches are great and close by.
But mainly it’s where their families are, where they feel connected, where they feel a solid part of a community that they can call their own.
Right now, they need all of us to give them the attention and the support they need to help them keep their own community thriving.
Civil Beat鈥檚 pop-up newsrooms are supported by the Hawaii Community Foundation and the American Press Institute鈥檚 Election Coverage and Community Listening Fund.
