Report Title:

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Island Tenants on the Rise (ITOR) was first formed as a jurisdiction-wide resident council by duly-elected presidents of public housing resident councils on July 19, 1997; and

WHEREAS, the United States Housing and Urban Development rules allow resident councils to form an organization representing the interests of residents living in units under a housing authority's jurisdiction by:

WHEREAS, ITOR was a jurisdiction-wide resident council before the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (QHWRA) came into being; and

WHEREAS, ITOR is dedicated to encouraging residents to participate in the democratic process by registering to vote, voting on election day, participating in the legislative hearing process, and initiating new legislation and resolutions; and

WHEREAS, on July 29, 2000, twenty-two housing representatives called together by the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii (HCDOH), voted that ITOR be the voice of residents statewide as a Resident Advisory Board; and

WHEREAS, although democratically elected, ITOR is not recognized by the HCDCH as the official representative of public housing tenants; and

WHEREAS, rather than recognize ITOR as the official representative of public housing tenants, the HCDCH has ignored the democratic processes instituted by ITOR and instead, selected other public housing tenants to negotiate with; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii is urged to recognize the democratic processes and the duly elected representatives of ITOR as the official representatives of public housing tenants under its jurisdiction and to work with them in resolving issues facing public housing tenants; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that HCDCH is encouraged to continue working with ITOR in effecting policy changes that will lead to self-sufficiency and self-determination by residents in public housing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that HCDCH report to the Legislature no more than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2002 on HCDCH's actions regarding this Concurrent Resolution and the cooperative accomplishments of HCDCH and ITOR in working to build new and more active resident associations in every public housing project; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii and Island Tenants on the Rise.