Oahu farmers seek help, as city officials discuss future of Office of Economic Revitalization

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Farmers on Oahu’s North Shore are still drowning financially from March flooding that destroyed their homes and livelihoods.

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Now, cuts proposed for the City’s Office of Economic Revitalization (OER) could further dampen their recovery.

Three months after the Kona low storms devastated their 2.5 acres of farmland in Waialua, Mirriam and Rudy Garcia say they’ve had to start over and are still cleaning up.

The only help they’ve gotten from city so far is a wheelbarrow. They received a $1,500 relief grant from the state and are still waiting on aid from the federal government.

Mirriam Garcia shows us what’s left of the farm she’s cultivated for the past five years, thousands of dollars worth of broken equipment, and containers full of ruined furniture and debris that smell like mold.

She’s been able to grow green onion, eggplant, and star beans using a makeshift tool, but it’s back breaking work for the 61-year-old.

Pictures document more than $140,000 in damages, with all kinds of crops, seeds and fertilizer swept away in a matter of hours.

“I’m crying because I lost everything,” she said. “My tractor cannot work. We’re working right now, only our hand, we use our hand.”

She joined several farmers at last week’s City Council Meeting to ask for help.

But critics of a $1.4 million dollar cut to OER and loss of 18 employees say it will hurt the city’s work in communities.

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“You cannot see through budget and other documents the work that we were doing, or it also wasn’t going through the regular council process because overall, OER has executed $408 million in programming, whether it be federal or other private and external resources to our community,” said OER executive director Amy Asselbaye.

The majority of city council members pushed back on claims cuts to OER would affect recovery and disagreed with the administration on OER’s function.

“OER has shimmied through its legal mandates to become a secondary social service agency that is not authorized in the charter,” said budget chair Val Okimoto during the City Council meeting on June 3.

“Let’s give money straight to the farmers bureau. let’s have them distribute that to the farmers. that would cut out out all the bureaucracy,” said vice chair Andria Tupola.

OER’s head says government doesn’t work that way.

“Everyone wants to make sure their tax dollar doesn’t go to waste,” Asselbaye said. “It takes people, it takes a procurement process, it takes someone who understands how these systems work to actually create a program and get the dollars out to the people who need it most.”

People like the Garcias.

“Hopefully do not forget us because still we are still hurting,” said Miriam Garcia.

In a statement, Honolulu’s Mayor said in part: “We are engaged in ongoing discussions with our team… as we carefully assess the best course of action moving forward.. we remain focused on evaluating all available options.”

The Mayor’s office says he has until June 19 to decide if he should veto the budget.

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