Green’s Homeless Coordinator Is Leaving Post
Gov. Josh Green has not named a replacement yet for James Koshiba, who has been in the role for just under a year.
James Koshiba, a nonprofit leader and community organizer heading the governor鈥檚 push to dramatically reduce homelessness in Hawaii, is stepping down from his role as the state鈥檚 homelessness coordinator next month.
Gov. Josh Green appointed Koshiba to the position last December.
In a brief statement Friday afternoon, the governor’s office said Koshiba had worked to “lay the foundation” for achieving Green’s goal of reducing the number of unsheltered homeless people in the state by half in the next three years.
No reason was given for Koshiba’s departure.
鈥淚鈥檓 grateful for the opportunity to have served in government, and the time has come for me to return to community-based nonprofit work, which has always been my calling,” Koshiba said in the same statement.
Koshiba declined to comment further, referring instead to the statement from the governor’s office.
Before he took on the role in Green’s administation Koshiba had been an outspoken homeless advocate whose views on the issue were shaped by spending a week living in a Kakaako encampment in 2015.
He will stay in his current position until Jan. 12 to help onboard his replacement, though it is unclear yet who that will be.
