Maui mayor to veto housing bill

[ashlover]

Affordable Housing on Maui

Lesley Bruce of Hana pointed to local residents who are forced to live on the beach because they don't have a home.Joy's Cold-hearted Truthful Opinion

Comments

[teruchan]

Okay... seriously... do I hear CONGRESS-WOMAN?!!!

[kenichi84]

Joy, what you say is true, but the problem is that no one sees it that way... All they see is the fact that Alan Arakawa wants to veto a bill that would provide more affordable housing on Maui... John Q. Public cares not about the idea of monopoly, he cares about his home... Bear in mind that I'm not disagreeing with you, I think you hit the nail right on the head... but the average citizen isn't politically savvy as you are... We work our asses off, most people don't, and they're the ones that are living on the beaches... But why don't they work their asses off too? Maybe it's because they don't know how to do it... Which is why Social Security and welfare are the savior and bane of our society... They save the ones who do try to work their asses off and just can't eck out a living... but they also pad and buffer those people who COULD work if they wanted to, but choose not to, and decide instead to live off the charity and goodwill of those of us who bust our ass to get the bare necessities like food, water, and shelter

[manoababooze]

While I feel that many of the homeless are drug adled or work averse, the Homelessness crisis on Maui is more complex than just that. There isa critical shortage of rental housing that a fastfood worker can afford. If someone is making the minimum wage, they would have to do the following: Find a place they can afford, try to compete with other people, be selected by picky owners or managers, get extra work/jobs to pay for the added expense of living somewhere (utilities come to mind), and then see if they can make the rent on a monthly basis. A large problem is the out of control real estate speculation that went on in the last two years. Untamed greed has been a problem with Maui from when my Grandmother lived there. Many places were purchased as investments by people who don't know the simple concepts of true cost of ownership and the true return on investment

[teruchan]

A lot of my line employees at the hotel have two jobs just so they can support themselves here on Maui. (I even knew a couple of people who have/had THREE jobs!) Granted, some of them do send money home to the Phillipines. But the majority dono't and it's sad to see some of them go through so much just to get by.

[ashlover]

Thanks for your comments. I don't have time atm to respond to all your comments, but I do agree with Eric that there will be lots of foreclosures soon. I've been hearing it from brokers, real estate agents, title and escrow folks, and other people who keep their ears to the floor. They're saying the foreclosure peak may be around early 2008 or so.

[teruchan]

Oh good... that's about the time when Lauren and I will be looking for a home. Hahaha! Okay, it's not that funny... but you know what I mean.