City reclaims Maili Beach parks

A five-day cleanup evicts homeless families

About a dozen police officers waited yesterday morning as stragglers at Ulehawa Beach Park packed their belongings while city crews dumped the trash left behind by about 120 people who once lived there.

"There was no problem," said Maj. Michael Moses, of the Honolulu Police Department's District 8 on the Leeward Coast. "We want to do these things carefully and slowly so we don't have the types of confrontation we've seen in the past."

The city closed the Nani Kai section of Ulehawa Beach Park and the nearby Surfer's Beach area near Maili yesterday, forcing out squatters, as part of an islandwide campaign to clean public parks.

The parks will be closed until 3 p.m. Friday for repairs. Police officers will enforce night closure hours from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. after that.

Most of the homeless living in this area of the beach, located on Farrington Highway near Hookele Street, moved before yesterday's eviction. As at other parks that the city closed previously, many homeless people moved to another park.

The state put about 40 percent of the homeless living in Ulehawa Beach Park into nearby shelters after the city announced the park's closure. However, the shelters are already jammed with people who were forced to move from Maili Beach Park in a city sweep last year.

"Unless a miracle happens where we get some kind of new shelter to open up, or more housing, we cannot shuffle people from the shelters," said Lautoa Atisanoe Jr., a project coordinator with the Hawaii Public Housing Authority. "Forcing people to move without finding them a place to go is the hardest thing to do."

About four families and one individual, Anthony Aila Jr., stayed after yesterday's 8 a.m. deadline that police officers gave squatters to move. City parks workers threw tents that were still erected, a child's wagon and clothes, among other belongings, into garbage trucks.

"I'm going to go to another park until I can move into my home again," said Aila, 45, who says he suffers from several mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder. "I cannot live in a shelter where they make their rules impossible to follow."

The city's park cleanup project started in Ala Moana Beach Park in 2006, prompting state officials to build emergency shelters and scramble for homelessness solutions.

"We should not let a premium park like this deteriorate," said Jeff Coelho, director of the city Department of Customer Services. "We have to make the park open to the general public."

Several nearby residents praised the city for sweeping Ulehawa Beach Park, which police officers said had numerous illicit drug complaints.

"The reason why people purchase homes in this area is to be able to walk down to the beach," said Ed Lauer, the general resident manager for the nearby Sea Country homes. "But no one comes down here. It's just not safe."

"We're excited to have the park back again," added Debbie Garcia, who also lives in the Sea Country homes.