Homelessness Highlighted in Mayor’s Televised Event

Homeless parked at Kahului Harbor on Maui. File photo by Wendy Osher, March 2006. The camp was cleared during a subsequent sweep of the area. Several tent shelters have gone up since then along the shoreline of the harbor in the naupaka bushes.

By Maui Now staff

Homelessness will be the focus of discussion for the next edition of the Mayor’s TV show, “Your County with Mayor Arakawa.”

The discussion will be televised in a live broadcast, scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, on Channel 54.

The program, hosted by Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa, will highlight the upcoming observance of National Homeless Awareness Week, which runs from November 18 to 22, 2013.

Guests scheduled to participate in the discussion include: Maui Managing Director Keith Regan; Maude Cumming, Executive Director of Family Life Center and a co-chair of the Maui Homeless Alliance; Lt. William Juan, Public Information Officer with the Maui Police Department; Dr. Dara Rampersad, psychologist; and Jan Shishido, Deputy Director of the Department of Housing & Human Concerns.

Viewers can call in to ask questions during the program at (808) 873-3430.

The show will re-broadcast on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. from November 13-27 on the same channel.

The discussion comes on the heels of a shooting reported last week in South Maui in an area known to be frequented by vagrant individuals.

Police did not release details on the identity of the victim, and could not confirm his residence, but noted that he was uncooperative.  The incident was being investigated as an assault.