First Housing Proclamation “Working Group” Meeting

by Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director

Tomorrow, Friday, August 11 from 9:30-10:30 am is the *likely* inaugural meeting of the “Build Beyond Barriers Working Group” established under Governor Green’s housing emergency proclamation (note: different times appear to have been provided to working group members and to media outlets). While the Green Administration has touted that the proclamation, its working group, and its decision making processes will be transparent and forthright, as of this morning, this inaugural meeting was still omitted from the state’s public meeting calendar, and we still have been provided with no direct details regarding whether and how public viewing or participation will be accommodated.  (However, the Maui news has suggested that the public meeting is supposed to be streamed live on the Governor’s Facebook).

From the get-go, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi has been deeply concerned about the emergency proclamation and its many potential pitfalls. While we endeavored to identify the numerous issues that the proclamation could have raised during its development, our input was largely ignored, leading to a document that has now been roundly criticized as unconstitutional, anti-democratic, anti-Hawaiian, and unenforceable.

Nevertheless, I will be at tomorrow’s working group orientation meeting and every meeting to follow, asking the hard questions, and raising the concerns of our organization and the larger community. I look forward to reporting back on the meeting with members and supporters like you soon.

About the working group 

The Build Beyond Barriers Working Group, chaired by the Lead Housing Officer, is a group of agencies and organizations invited by the Governor to “certify” housing and housing-related development projects eligible for myriad exemptions from environmental and cultural protections, as well as laws that would otherwise ensure transparency, good governance, and prudent planning. The working group is scheduled to meet once a month or more if needed.

Of particular concern is the fact that the 23-member working group lacks the expertise to evaluate the myriad considerations associated with development in Hawaiʻi, including our limited and fragile natural and cultural resources, dire need for water and food security, and unique island values. It is unrealistic to expect such a small group of representatives to be able to meaningfully assess dozens of proposed projects potentially involving thousands of acres of land throughout the island chain. 

Even more problematic is the unilateral authority given the Lead Housing Officer, who can also negotiate and approve a huge range of housing and housing-related development projects without any review or approval by the working group, giving her unprecedented power to single-handedly commit huge amounts of limited land, water, and resources to housing projects that may not even meet the current needs of local, long-time residents. 

About the proclamation

On July 17, Governor Green signed an emergency proclamation on housing, to "address" Hawaiʻi’s housing crisis by exempting developers from major land use, environmental, cultural protection, government transparency, public procurement, and collective bargaining laws—with no affordability requirements to ensure that any new housing will be truly accessible to Hawaiʻi’s families and residents, or meaningful safeguards to prevent new developments from simply being marketed ⁠and sold to offshore buyers and investors.

The critical need for affordable and working class housing in Hawaiʻi is recognized and felt urgently, and many bold solutions could help to chip away at this deeply rooted, multi-faceted, and decades-long crisis. However, the application of emergency powers through the governor’s emergency proclamation, is an affront to not just our environmental and cultural integrity, but to fiscal accountability, public transparency, the socioeconomic realities of life in our islands, and our very system of democratic and constitutional governance. You can read more on my thoughts here in this month’s Mālama Monthly.

I invite you to join us and the growing number of community organizations and leaders who are taking a stand against this insidious attempt to exploit our housing crisis, to benefit corporate developers and the wealthy. Commit to taking action to save the Hawaiʻi we know and love by signing the pledge here, ask your friends and neighbors to do the same, and stand by for more actions as this campaign continues to grow.

If you are part of a group that is interested in hosting a presentation and discussion about the issues behind the emergency order, please reply to this email or contact us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org.