State House names Tom “Sledgehammer” Brower as housing committee chair
Brower’s disparaging words and dehumanizing actions toward those experiencing houselessness in Hawaiʻi make him a controversial choice to chair the committee.
Hawaiʻi State House leadership has named Representative Tom Brower (House District 22, Waikīkī, Ala Moana) as the new chair of the housing committee in the lower house of the legislature. Advocates for the houseless community at the State Capitol reacted to Brower’s appointment with mixed feelings, expressing concern over the selection of a man who seems to treat the houseless population with a certain level of distain.
“Selecting Rep. Brower as the committee chair for housing signifies a surprising lapse of judgment on the part of House leadership,” said Kathy Xian of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery (PASS). “Brower’s personal and professional conduct toward the houseless is clearly unbecoming and alarming. He shows a crude lack of compassion for those less fortunate, has publicly destroyed property that wasn’t his in his attempt to bring attention, not to housing solutions, but only to himself during a failed publicity stunt, and has lied to advocates by claiming responsibility for past bills drafted to protect the houseless from unconstitutional raids. This is not the type of candidate ideal for this position, nor any position in the State House that requires compassion, rationality and jurisprudence.”
In 2013, Brower made national news when it was publicized that he had been roaming the streets of his House district with an actual sledgehammer, destroying shopping carts (and the possessions inside them) that houseless people often use as makeshift, portable storage for their belongings. Then, in 2015, local news broke that Brower had been allegedly assaulted by two houseless teenagers in Kakaʻako after he refused to leave them alone and continued taking photos and video of the youth and the encampment in which they were residing. He then turned around and pressed charges against the houseless youth.
In 2010, Brower published an op-ed in the conservative news site Hawaii Reporter, in which he addresses none of the complex underlying socioeconomic factors that cause houeselessness, and makes no mention of the colonial context that explains why so many of Hawaiʻi’s houseless are Native Hawaiian. Brower’s only solution is a vague proposal to create “safe zones” somewhere (“all we need is the land,” he says).
While short on detail and devoid of any intelligent analysis of the problem, Brower’s op-ed does do an excellent job of making it crystal clear that he considers Honolulu’s houseless population to be a nuisance—especially to the business-obsessed audience to whom he is writing:
We know where we don’t want the homeless to be because they are already “camping” there, illegally. We can either designate areas where the homeless can be—or do nothing and let them continue to be everywhere.
If enough safe zones are created, the homeless cannot say they have “no place to go” and continue monopolizing our parks and sidewalks. They will now have a place to go. Should they choose not to go there, the homeless must understand, from this point forward, they will not have unlimited access for “camping” at popular spots. Being homeless should mean fewer options on where you can stay, not more.
For homeless service providers, safe zones would make it easier to track/care for their clients and control the spread of infectious diseases, like hepatitis. For law enforcement, the homeless would be easier to remove from unauthorized spaces.
Despite this, some advocates expressed cautious hope that Brower can be educated and persuaded to endorse data-driven solutions to houselessness and affordable housing and that he will work with stakeholders to implement them as committee chair.
“Rep. Brower must realize that he can’t take a sledgehammer to the state’s housing crisis,” said Kris Coffield of IMUAlliance. “He must work with all stakeholders to create truly affordable housing and stem gentrification, while also ensuring that new development plans consider community needs, like increased school capacity. One of Rep. Brower’s first priorities should be to increase the state renters’ credit to $150 for households making up to $60,000, giving long overdue relief to working class residents who are barely scraping by.”
In 2013, after he agreed to stop smashing shopping carts, we examined Brower’s voting record from that year as it related to housing. You can read about the housing-related bills he supported and opposed here.
Rep. Brower did vote twice in favor of HB2580 in 2014, which incrementally raises the minimum wage in Hawaiʻi beginning January 1, 2015.
Brower’s stated position on his website when it comes to creating affordable housing is: “To better stabilize market conditions, provide more tax incentives, reduce tax and building costs, and require developers to provide affordable, market rate and rented units in residential projects. Encourage renovation funding incentives for vacant public and private housing sites.”
