BY EMAIL

April 30, 2020

Harry Kim
Mayor
Hawaiʻi County Office of the Mayor
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720
harry.kim@hawaiicounty.gov

David Yamamoto, P.E.
Director
Hawaiʻi County Department of Public Works
101 Pauahi Street, Suite 7
Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720
public_works@hawaiicounty.gov

Paul K. Ferreira
Police Chief
Hawaiʻi Police Department
349 Kapiolani Street
Hilo, Hawai`i 96720
paul.ferreira@hawaiicounty.gov

Joseph K. Kamelamela, Esq.
Corporation Counsel
Hawaiʻi County Office of the Corporation Counsel
101 Aupuni Street, Unit 325
Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720
corpcounsel@hawaiicounty.gov

Re:

County of Hawaiʻi sweeps of houseless encampments during the
COVID-19 pandemic

Dear Mayor Kim, Chief Ferreira, Director Yamamoto, and Corporation Counsel
Kamelamela:
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi Foundation (“ACLU of Hawaiʻi”) and the law firm of
Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho (“GBDH”) recently learned that the County of
Hawaiʻi (“County”) conducted a sweep that forcibly evicted a group of people from a
lot adjacent to Agasa Furniture in downtown Hilo early on April 7, 2020 (“Hilo
Sweep”). The Hilo Sweep follows other recent sweeps in Kona and Wailuku. As
explained below, in conducting the Hilo Sweep, the County skirted the mandates of
both the U.S. and Hawaiʻi constitutions and state law. We write to express our
concerns not only about the Hilo Sweep, but also the County’s broader policies and
practices regarding people who are houseless. These policies and practices are
unlawful and unsound under normal circumstances. But they are blatantly
unconstitutional and reckless during the present pandemic. So we also write with a
demand: The County must immediately cease conducting sweeps of houseless
encampments in the County, at least until the COVID-19 pandemic passes.

 Letter re: County of Hawaiʻi sweeps of houseless encampments during the COVID19 pandemic
April 30, 2020
Page 2 of 6
Given that the County’s ongoing practice of forcibly evicting and scattering
houseless people is also substantially and recklessly increasing the risk that they
and other members of the community will experience serious harm during the
ongoing pandemic, we also ask that you respond in writing, by May 7, 2020,
making a public commitment to suspend future sweeps of houseless
encampments.
The Hilo Sweep occurred in the lot located at 117 Punahoa Street (“Lot”) in
downtown Hilo. In early 2018, County residents Jerilyn Rose and Michael
Ravenswing purchased the Lot.1 At some point after taking ownership, Rose and
Ravenswing gave several houseless people permission to reside on the Lot
(“Residents”), after which the Residents began putting up tents and structures.2
Near the end of 2018, inspectors from the County’s Department of Public
Works examined the Lot and allegedly observed building code violations, such as
unpermitted fencing and structures.3 The County began fining Rose and
Ravenswing for such violations. Because Rose and Ravenswing did not comply, in
April 2019 the County initiated legal action against them to remove the
unpermitted structures on the Lot, force compliance with the building code, and
require them to pay fines. In January 2020, the County, seeking to satisfy the fines
Rose and Ravenswing owed to the County, filed a motion for writ of attachment,
execution, and sale of the Lot. On April 6, 2020, the circuit court held a hearing and
orally granted the County’s motion.

The County’s real property records for the address reflect that Rose and Ravenswing used limited
liability corporations to purchase the lot. See
https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=1048&LayerID=23618&PageTypeID=4&
PageID=9878&Q=636476436&KeyValue=230090270000.
1

Video: Unpermitted Hilo Structures Demolished, Big Island Video News (Nov. 21, 2019),
https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/11/21/video-unpermitted-hilo-structures-demolished (lot
resident Jeffery Horie stating that he served as a “property manager for the owners” and the “lessee”
of the Lot).
2

Michael Brestovansky, Fines Pile Up For Owners of Downtown Hilo Property, Hawaii TribuneHerald (Aug. 22, 2019), https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2019/08/22/hawaii-news/fines-pile-upfor-owners-of-downtown-hilo-property.
3

 Letter re: County of Hawaiʻi sweeps of houseless encampments during the COVID19 pandemic
April 30, 2020
Page 3 of 6
Early the very next morning—before the court had entered final judgment—
the County conducted the Hilo Sweep.4 Notably, the County moved forward with the
Hilo Sweep even though just one day earlier it had signaled to advocates (including
HOPE Services and Community Alliance Partners) that it was in favor of a plan to
relocate the Residents to the soccer fields on the Hilo bayfront, and even though
advocates had offered to provide guidance and support to the County regarding that
plan. The County apparently reversed course on its stated commitment to
advocates.
During the Hilo Sweep, about 12 police officers and 15 county workers
brought at least one bulldozer and several trucks to the Lot and forcibly removed
the fifteen-or-so Residents before then seizing and destroying Residents’ remaining
personal property.5 At no point before the Hilo Sweep did the County serve any
written notice on the Lot’s Residents. Nor did the County initiate any eviction or
other legal proceeding against them. Instead, as the Hilo Sweep was beginning, a
County official orally notified Residents that they had a mere 30 minutes in which
to completely vacate the Lot. When an advocate from HOPE Services requested
more time on Residents’ behalf, the County granted 15 more minutes—but no
longer. Unsurprisingly, the Residents were unable to gather and remove the vast
majority of their personal property from the Lot in time. As a result—just 45
minutes after the Hilo Sweep began—about 15 Residents6 were displaced from their
residence, most of them without their personal property, and practically all of them
without a safe place to go.7
The County’s actions in conducting the Hilo Sweep are illegal and
unconstitutional in several respects. Regarding state law requirements, the County
did not have clear and final ownership of the Lot when it conducted the Hilo Sweep.
More information about the Hilo Sweep is available here:
https://www.facebook.com/HOPEServicesHawaii/posts/3030783616986265.
4

Photos of the Hilo Sweep are available here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3030578690340091&set=pcb.3030783616986265.
5

The County has stated that there were only 12 people on the Lot. See Star-Advertiser Staff, Police
Remove A Dozen People Squatting in Vacant Hilo Lot, Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Apr. 7, 2020),
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/04/07/breaking-news/hilo-police-remove-a-dozen-peoplesquatting-in-vacant-lot. But there were, in fact, 15 Residents at the time; 3 Residents were not on or
near the Lot when the Hilo Sweep occurred. Thus, these 3 Residents received no notice and had no
opportunity to retrieve any of their belongings before the County seized and destroyed them.
6

7

About 4 residents did successfully obtain shelter via HOPE Services.

 Letter re: County of Hawaiʻi sweeps of houseless encampments during the COVID19 pandemic
April 30, 2020
Page 4 of 6
The court had not yet entered any written order stating as much. Indeed, court
records reflect that the circuit court entered the order on the County’s motion on
April 21, 2020—two full weeks after the Hilo Sweep.8 Even assuming that any oral
order made on April 6 constituted “entry” of judgment, the County appears to have
completely disregarded the automatic 10-day stay of execution imposed by statute
and court rule.9 Finally, even assuming that the County had, by the morning of
April 7, appropriately completed the attachment process vis-à-vis Rose and
Ravenswing, that does not mean that it had the ability to ignore the Residents’
rights of possession to the Lot and their personal property, in the same way that
when a bank forecloses on an owner’s home, it cannot immediately remove existing
tenants without completing a separate legal process against them. There is no
indication that the County followed any such legal process against the Residents.
The Hilo Sweep also constituted a flagrant violation of Residents’
constitutional rights. First, in failing to provide adequate notice or any opportunity
to be heard before seizing and destroying Residents’ personal property and ejecting
them from the land on which they had been living with the permission of the prior
owners, the County violated procedural due process rights guaranteed by the
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and article I, section 5 of the
Hawaiʻi Constitution.10 Second, in unreasonably seizing and destroying Residents’
In an article published shortly after the Hilo Sweep occurred, Corporation Counsel even conceded
that some ambiguity existed regarding whether the County actually owned the property at that
particular moment. See Michael Brestovansky, Downtown Hilo Site of Multiple Homeless Camps is
Cleared, Fenced, Hawaii Tribune-Herald (Apr. 8, 2020), https://www.hawaiitribuneherald.com/2020/04/08/hawaii-news/downtown-hilo-site-of-multiple-homeless-camps-is-clearedfenced (“‘The county technically owns the property,’ said county Corporation Counsel Joe
Kamelamela. ‘But we don’t have the deed for it. It’s not that kind of ownership.’”).
8

See Haw. Rev. Stat. § 641-3 (“No execution shall issue upon a judgment nor shall proceedings be
taken for its enforcement until the expiration of ten days after its entry.”); Haw. R. Civ. Proc. Rule
62(a) (“[N]o execution shall issue upon a judgment nor shall proceedings be taken for its enforcement
until the expiration of 10 days after its entry.”).
9

See, e.g., Lavan v. City of Los Angeles, 693 F.3d 1022, 1032 (9th Cir. 2012) (“Because homeless
persons’ unabandoned possessions are ‘property’ within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment,
the City must comport with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause if it
wishes to take and destroy them.”); Kincaid v. City of Fresno, No. 106CV-1445 OWW SMS, 2006 WL
3542732, at *1, *37-39 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 8, 2006) (granting preliminary injunction preventing City from
“immediately seizing and destroying on the spot, [plaintiffs’] personal possessions, during sweeps
conducted by the City . . . to remove homeless persons, encampments, and their property from
private property and other locations within the City” because the City’s failure to provide “effective
and adequate pre- or post-deprivation process . . . violate[d] the Fourteenth Amendment . . . .”).
10

 Letter re: County of Hawaiʻi sweeps of houseless encampments during the COVID19 pandemic
April 30, 2020
Page 5 of 6
personal property, the County violated the Fourth Amendment and article I, section
7.11 Third, by deliberately choosing to evict and scatter the Residents—and thereby
affirmatively placing them in further danger of contracting COVID-19—the County
violated substantive due process rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment
and article I, section 5.12 Indeed, as the attached Declaration of Dr. John
Swartzberg, a renowned infectious disease specialist, states, “[c]onducting
encampment sweeps and confiscating the belongings of people who are houseless . .
. can increase the risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19 for those who are
subject to the sweep” and “clearing encampments will put lives at risk by increasing
transmission of the virus among a vulnerable population.” Fourth, by using criminal
law enforcement officers and the implicit threat of arrest to force Residents off the
Lot when there were no meaningful safe places for them to go to—particularly at a
time when the County’s shelters are hopelessly overcrowded and must also
maintain strict social distancing requirements that further limit capacity—the
County violated Residents’ rights under the Eighth Amendment and article I,
section 12 to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.13
The County’s decision to conduct the Hilo Sweep also runs counter to public
health. The Hilo Sweep was directly contrary to COVID-19-related guidance
published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), which states:
“Unless individual housing units are available, do not clear encampments during
community spread of COVID-19.”14 And as Dr. Swartzberg states, “[t]he best
solution to protect public health and the safety of the people who are houseless is to

See, e.g., Kincaid, 2006 WL 3542732, at *35-37 (granting preliminary injunction on Fourth
Amendment grounds based on City’s “policy and practice of seizure and destruction” of plaintiffs’
personal property “[e]ven when homeless people inform[ed] City workers that they ha[d] been
granted permission to keep their belonging where they are . . . .”).
11

See, e.g., Kennedy v. City of Ridgefield, 439 F. 3d 1055, 1061-65 (9th Cir. 2006) (recognizing claim
under substantive due process where state or local officials place a person in a situation of known
danger with deliberate indifference to their personal and physical safety).
12

See, e.g., Martin v. City of Boise, 920 F.3d 584, 604 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 674 (2019)
(holding that enforcement of an ordinance “violates the Eighth Amendment insofar as it imposes
criminal sanctions against homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors, on public property, when no
alternative shelter is available to them”).
13

Interim Guidance, People Experiencing Homelessness and COVID-19, CDC (Mar. 22, 2020),
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/homeless-shelters/unshelteredhomelessness.html.
14

 Letter re: County of Hawaiʻi sweeps of houseless encampments during the COVID19 pandemic
April 30, 2020
Page 6 of 6
secure individual housing units” for houseless people, rather than scattering them,
which also causes them to “break connections with service providers.”
Finally, the County’s actions are inhumane. Forcibly evicting peaceful people
from a private lot without providing any meaningful due process and, importantly,
without providing any meaningful alternative place to exist is an intolerable act in
civilized society—and is even more so during one of the worst health crises in
modern history.
For all these reasons, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi and GBDH now demand
that the County not conduct any sweeps, evictions, or other enforcement
actions against people who are houseless.15 Such a moratorium must exist at
least until the present COVID-19 pandemic passes, but should extend beyond that
point as well.
If for some reason the County of Hawaiʻi cannot make this commitment, the
ACLU of Hawaiʻi and GBDH stand ready to respond appropriately, as they have
done before, in defense of civil rights, and against unlawful government action,
especially given that the County conducted the Hilo Sweep with such impunity.
We look forward to hearing from you by May 7, 2020. If you have questions or
comments, please contact Wookie Kim at 808-522-5905 or wkim@acluhawaii.org, or
Anne Bellows at 510-287-4344 or abellows@gbdhlegal.com.
Sincerely yours,

Wookie Kim
Staff Attorney
ACLU of Hawaiʻi

Anne Bellows
Attorney
Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho

Enclosures: Attachment A (April 23, 2020 Declaration of Dr. John Swartzberg)
This is consistent with the statewide moratorium on evictions. See Office of the Governor, Fifth
Supplementary Proclamation, at 6 (Apr. 16, 2020), https://governor.hawaii.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2020/04/2004088-ATG_Fifth-Supplementary-Proclamation-for-COVID-19distribution-signed.pdf.
15