Report Title:

Hope VI; Revitalization Grant; KPT

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, many of the public housing projects in the State of Hawaii are over forty years old and are in need of major repairs; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii residents continue to struggle from a period of unprecedented economic stagnation; and

WHEREAS, the economy and a high cost of living contribute to Hawaii's large number of renters, many of whom reside in public housing projects; and

WHEREAS, state agencies must leverage all sources of funding to the highest degree in order to carry out their respective missions; and

WHEREAS, HOPE VI is a federally funded program with the purpose of improving the living environment for residents of severely distressed public housing projects by revitalizing the site and contributing to the improvement of the surrounding neighborhood through demolition, rehabilitation, or replacement of obsolete public housing projects; and

WHEREAS, the HOPE VI program encourages public housing authorities to seek partnerships with the private sector, nonprofit community organizations, and public entities to create mixed—income projects and to develop economic self—sufficiency programs for residents in housing projects such as Kuhio Park Terrace, as well as the surrounding community; and

WHEREAS, since 1993, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded over $500,000,000 in HOPE VI grants each year on a competitive basis to eligible public housing authorities; and

WHEREAS, the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, the State of Hawaii's public housing authority, is in the process of coordinating efforts to submit a HOPE VI revitalization application in the year 2001 for Kuhio Park Terrace; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature hereby acknowledges its support of the State of Hawaii's HOPE VI revitalization grant application for Kuhio Park Terrace; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is urged to support Hawaii's HOPE VI revitalization application for Kuhio Park Terrace; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is urged to form a round table headed by his special assistant on housing and include representatives from the residents of Kuhio Park Terrace, the Hawaii Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Department of Budget and Finance, and the private sector, to establish a plan of how to best utilize the grant if awarded to Kuhio Park Terrace; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Governor, the Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, and any organization representing the residents of Kuhio Park Terrace.