RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the public housing project in Palolo Valley in east Honolulu has been comprised of both state-controlled units and federally controlled units; and

WHEREAS, through the 1980s and into the mid 1990s, many characteristics of neighborhood decline in the Palolo housing project were evident; and

WHEREAS, on March 4, 2002, the state-controlled public housing project in Palolo was privatized through the execution of a fifty-five-year lease with the Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, in May 2004, the Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, Inc. began investing $13,500,000 in renovations to the three hundred six unit project, completing the renovation a year later, on time and on budget, with the support of the residents and the community; and

WHEREAS, the renovated Palolo housing project is now a thriving and vibrant community with many supportive social programs, including but not limited to: programs for high school equivalency courses; University of Hawaii courses; after school tutoring programs conducted by students and professors from the University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College, and Chaminade University; a neighborhood security watch program; a Food Bank distribution program; and art and cultural youth programs; and

WHEREAS, all this progress has come through the joint efforts of the residents, other community members and organizations, and the Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, there remain one hundred eighteen units in the Palolo housing project that are controlled by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; and

WHEREAS, the residents in those latter units also want Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, Inc. to assist them in the privatization and renovation of their units; and

WHEREAS, on September 29, 2004, these residents submitted a petition to the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii requesting its assistance in their efforts to privatize and renovate their units; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is requested to assist the residents of Palolo and Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, Inc. to expedite the privatization and renovation of the one hundred eighteen units; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii or its successor agency, is requested to meet with and assist the residents of Palolo and Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii, Inc. in their efforts to work with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to privatize and renovate the remaining units in the Palolo Valley Homes project; 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, the Director of the Honolulu Field Office of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Governor, the Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, or its successor agency, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

Report Title:

Palolo Valley Homes Project