Eviction on T Usita"La Street

City Ufein Formica Nor th Sur vival Hel l Tables American Qualifyingfor Fromthe creator of Queensof Siam Bush AffordableHousing The Simpsons 11 Band 3 2 Cosmic Funk 9 FREE • Issue 1, Volume 1, July 17, 1991 Gettin I the Boot Eviction on Tusita"la Street o one reallyknew what to gle-story wooden cottages and do. All of the women left a few low-rise apartment build ... on the land agreed that ings. About 75 people lived on .... they'd rather be dragged the block,which, despite its loca offthe propertythan leave tion in the core. of Waikiki, was voluntarily. Theymet fre quite a popular place: jobs, the quently, over coffee and bus and the beach were all doughnuts from the corner ABC nearby, rents were low and store, to discuss the eviction, their neighbors were friendly. Despite options and their fate. Finally, on the ubiquitous sex, drugs and June 2, two days before they were crime of Waikiki, Tusitala Street due to be evicted, they decided that (as the block was known) was a as a statement of protest against the fairly quiet area. eviction and the destruction of U.S.A. Penseespent approx affordable rentals for luxury con imately $31 million buying up dominiums, thetJ would barricade property in the block. Once themselves into one ofthe empty Pensee had acquired the area, buildings on the lot aftermidnight The Property Managers, Ltd., a on June 4 and stay there until thetJ local property management firm were arrested. No one thought that headed by P.J. Moore stepped in would take verylong. to do just that. Moore sent noti fication to the tenants that the Early in 1990, a Japanese Property Managers were now corporation called U.S.A. Pensee handling the properties and she began buying properties clus and Tom Patas, a Property tered in a block of Waikiki Managers representative, visited bound by Kapili Street and the neighborhood to inspect the Liliuokalani Avenue arid properties and talk with the res bisected by Tusitala Street. The idents. area, the former home of Area residents who were Hawaiian royalty (see sidebar), approached by the company say contained a number of old, sin- Continued on page4 COMING SOON! A Notefrom the Publisher oday corporations control have created secure monopolies. to include more features,columns, most city newspapers in But they've failed to create inde and investigative pieces as our our country.This is a fairly pendent editorial voices. Although advertising base grows. recent phenomenon. Dur there are some differences between We invite you to join us each ing the 19th century and Honolulu's two dailies, the differ week in rediscovering our city. most of the 20th, newspa ences are insignificant. To under Welcometo the Honolulu Weekly! pers were owned by fami- stand the potential power of that lies or by their publishers. When difference, one need only look at HONOLULU -• . • old-style owners sold their papers Anchorage's daily papers, which to large corporations the driving operate without any such partner force behind the newspaper ship. You could never mistake one changed. Now shareholders dictate of Anchorage's dailies for the Weekly that the most important feature of other-on almost any issue they Vol.1, No.1 a newspaper is the bottom line of July 17, 1991 the balance sheet. Publisher and Managing Because media occupy a spe Mauka to Makai Editor Laurie V. Carlson cial place in our society (as well as Senior Editor Julia Steele Calendar Editor in our constitution) a strictly bot have radically differentpoints of Derek Ferrar tom line approach undermines the view. Contributing Writers value of the press to society. Today there are 19 JOAs in Alan Young, Jahan Byrne, Capitalism's strength is its effi the country and there is little evi Bob Green ciency and newspaper chains are dence that they have ensured the Editorial Intern very efficient. Chains cut costs by continuation of what the Supreme Hanya Yanagihara using wire services and syndicated Court once called "an uninhibited Art Director Bud Linschoten columns rather than local journal marketplaceof ideas, in which truth Contributing Artist ists. And while corporate owners will ultimately prevail." Linda Fong have nothing against muckraking, A new type of newspaper is Contributing Photographers except perhaps its price, they have emerging to fill the gap created by Marc Delorme, Charley Myers, a tendency to avoid controversyand the movement toward maximum Peter Fendrick, Liz Ball make the editorial product utterly profitability. Newsweeklies have Cartoonist Matt Groening inoffensive (some call it sprungup around the country-in Production Manager McJoumalism). major urban areas like San Blaine Fergerstrom Joint operating agreements Francisco and Boston and in smaller Production Intern TOA SHIRT (JOAs) have contributed to the cities as well-cities like Lafayette, Isabella Forster decline of regional publishing. The Louisiana and Chico, California. Distribution Manager Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the These publications vary Shayne Stambler Administrative Support Honolulu Advertiser were among greatly from indesign, in editorial Alston Russell, NEAR YOU! the firstpapers in thecountry to form voice, and in their politics. But by Ann Marie Swan a joint partnership for operations. and large they are run and produced ISSN #1057-414X ® CANE HAUL ROAD, HAWAII 1991 Originally, this arrangementwas cre by people who feel they can make Entire contents© 1991 by ated to ensure the survival of two a difference in their communities. Honolulu Weekly, Inc. separate editorial voices while sta We at the Honolulu Weekly All rights reserved bilizing the papers'financial health. aspireto make such a differenceand 1200 College Walk, Suite 212, JOAs have certainly con provide Honolulu with another Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 Subscriptions: $50/six months tributed to the survival and well voice. Although we're starting out $75/year being of daily papers. 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At Manoa MarRetplace Between Woodlawn & East Manoa Roads Jahan Byrne ing two affordable rental projects seven phases with the help of pri Qualifying in Kakaako. Kamakee Vistas, which vate developers such as Castle and is open to families of four or less, Cooke) is the Villages at Kapolei. will be completed in March and The city is working with WestLoch, for house 136 units. One bedroom Inc. to develop homes and town apartments will rent for$695, two houses at West Loch. Affordable bedroom apartments for $920. The state's other project is for individu How to Apply Housing als who are62 or older. It will house Fqr a desperate family looking for veryone talks about "afford 262 units; studios will rent for$575 an affordable home, there is noth able housing," but what and one bedroom apartments for ing bright about the application pro exactly do they mean? In $695. State subsidies of up to $250 cedure. There is no master waiting Honolulu, affordable hous an� available. Call 543-2913 for list, nor is there a central clearing ing usually means living information on affordable rentals house for information on projects with parents and siblings or and resales. in development. A spokeswoman at sharing a place with room People who make less than 60 the city Department of Housing and mates and splitting the rent. For percent of the median income may Community Development explains most, it does not mean owning a qualify for assistance through the that waiting lists would be "too home - Honolulu's high housing Hawaii Housing Authority. The cumbersome to maintain," so appli costs and low wages conspireto pre Authority runs a rent subsidy pro cations are taken only when pro vent the majority of island residents gram (handing out federally-subsi jects are close to completion. The frompossessing property. dized Section Eights and state same holds truefor the state and pri By the state's own predictions, subsidized rent supplements). It also vate developers. 85,000 housing units must be built rents units that arepriced to beafford Keeping a keen eye on the "Screw the eclipse. by the year 2000 to keep up with able (30 percent of the applicant's newspapers is, fornow, the best and the expected demand forhousing in pre-taxedincome). The Authority has the only way to keep abreast of the state. Of those, 64,000 units 4,586 units on Oahu (4,106 federal upcoming affordable homes sales. I'll catch the nextone!' must be"affordable," priced far less and 480 state). But here's the catch: Newspaperadvertisements are good than the cost of a median single The Authority currently has 11,017 sources of information on proce family home (which on Oahu is cur peopleon their waiting list, according dures, income limits and the dead Eat well, take care of yourself, and who knows rently about $355,000. The U.S. to Roxanne Shimokawa of the HH.A.

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