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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM In the kitchen area of a tent, Patrick Canoy wondered aloud yesterday what to do tomorrow when he and 100 others will be evicted from camps at Oneula Beach in Ewa. Having nowhere else to go, he plans to move to the beach area. "We're doing the best we can," said Canoy, who has been living in Oneula Park for a year.

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Sweep set to brush
Oneula homeless
elsewhere

Several faith-based groups urge
a moratorium to explore
short-term solutions

CORRECTIONS Thursday, March 3, 2005 » An eviction of homeless people is scheduled for today at Keaau Beach Park. Page A1 articles that ran on Monday, Tuesday and in yesterday's final edition misspelled the park as Keeau Beach Park. Friday, March 4, 2005 » The Rev. Bob Nakata is pastor of Kahaluu United Methodist Church. Stories on the eviction of homeless campers that ran on Page A1 on Tuesday, in Wednesday's final edition and yesterday incorrectly reported he was pastor of Harris United Methodist Church. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Jacqueline Tomisa said she will sleep on the sand at Oneula Beach Park when authorities evict her and about 100 other homeless people from the area.

"Where can I go?" asked Tomisa, 54, who has been living at the park, known as "Hau Bush," for more than a year.

With more evictions throughout the island on the way, homeless advocates are calling for a more humane solution. Authorities recently evicted homeless people from the Wahiawa Bridge and Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia.

Police from the Weed and Seed Detail for District 8 in Ewa Beach are scheduled to sweep the area tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. Evictions are also scheduled to occur at Pokai Bay and Keeau Beach Park Thursday.

Harris United Methodist Church Rev. Bob Nakata, a former state legislator, called for a moratorium on sweeps until something is done to find a place for the homeless.

"What do you do when you sweep them out? Where do you put them? There are no solutions," Nakata said at a news conference at the state Capitol yesterday.

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Several leaders of faith-based groups and some of the homeless who are living at Hau Bush joined Nakata for the press conference.

Nakata said he plans to hold a meeting in a couple of weeks at his church to look at solutions. Using school cafeterias and camp facilities and renovating old buses to shelter the homeless were among some of the short-term solutions he offered yesterday.

Police officer Fumi Muraoka said homelessness has been a problem at Hau Bush for years.

"Every time we do a sweep, it's cleaned out," said Muraoka, a member of the Weed and Seed Detail for District 8, which covers Ewa Beach. "They have nowhere to go and they start trickling back in," he said.

Since the inception of the Weed and Seed project in the district three years ago, a few hundred citations connected to the homeless were issued at Hau Bush, Muraoka said.

Ultimately, Hau Bush will cease to exist. Muraoka noted that Haseko Inc. is moving forward with plans to construct a marina near the park. "They are going to clear out the trees between the development and the park," he said.

In the mean time, Tomisa said she plans to leave her belongings on park grounds tomorrow until she figures out what to do.

"We're not poor. We just don't have enough to rent a house," she said.

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Jacqueline Tomisa, whose brother Patrick also lives at Oneula Beach, talked yesterday about moving out of her camp tomorrow. She has been living in the park for a year.

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A rock-concrete pathway leads to an area off the park's roadway to a site surrounded by kiawe trees and tents. About 50 homeless have sought shelter here, including Tomisa and her son, Zane Canoy.

There's a shower and a kitchen with a propane stove, and Tomisa said the Food Bank and some church groups periodically visit the site to provide food.

But their relative calm came to an end last week, when police posted notices about the sweep. The notice said all unclaimed and unaccompanied equipment will be turned over to the city Parks and Recreation Department.

Some residents are relieved to see Hau Bush coming to an end.

"It's been kind of an ongoing challenge," said Kenneth Perel, a member of the Ewa Neighborhood Board. "There's a lot of homelessness that brings a lot of drugs and crime.

"The beach is not really accessible to the community anymore," he said. "I think Hau Bush is a microcosm of the homeless problem in Hawaii," he said. "The police have been challenged over the last couple of years. It's just a cycle. We're just moving them around."