Hawaiʻi Chief Housing Officer Nani Medeiros is resigning following heavy criticism, legal challenges, and even personal attacks over a controversial housing plan she was given the job of implementing.
Medeiros became the face of Gov. Josh Green's emergency housing proclamation in July, when she became the lead housing officer and head of the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group.
The emergency proclamation largely waives or modifies certain regulatory procedures to produce more housing at lower costs.
But Green’s plan drew concerns from environmentalists, housing advocates and Native Hawaiian groups worried about too much power in too few hands.
This criticism has extended to multiple lawsuits and personal attacks on Medeiros on social media.
Green praised Medeiros, in a statement to HPR, for creating novel solutions to build affordable homes in Hawaiʻi “only to face a barrage of personal attacks in person and on social media.”
Medeiros said in a statement to the media that threats were made against her, her loved ones, and even her children.
She went on to say “I love my family, and for the sake of their health and safety, I’ve been left with no choice but to resign.
“With my resignation, the discussions about housing should no longer (be) about me. We need to refocus on the crisis.”
Read her full statement below:
“I've never owned a home. I don't know what it's like to not have to worry about rent being raised. I don't know what it's like to get keys for the first time, to furnish a house exactly the way I'd want it to be because it's mine, to give my family some sense of permanence in the only community we've ever known.
I took this job because I know I'm not alone, and every year, there are so many more just like me — locals who either can't afford to own a home or will be forced to leave the islands.
I understand the frustration many have with government, because most of my career has been focused on channeling my own frustration, doing the jobs to try to make government work better for all of us, or meet the needs that it just simply can't.
I've fought against the state's violations of the Felix Consent Decree, advocating for students with special needs and educational supports, fighting for equal funding of charter and immersion schools, fighting for health insurance for our poorest families and robust health care at community health centers.
Immediately prior to this job, I helped start two nonprofit organizations focused on affordable housing; I fought for neighbors experiencing houselessness, raising millions of dollars in donations of food, clothes, shelter, and permanent homes, and helped build Hawai‘i’s first kauhale of tiny homes in Kalaeloa to provide permanent homes for our ‘ohana experiencing houselessness.
I can't stand the housing crisis we're in and have been in for decades. Our regulatory processes are considered some of the worst in the nation. We do not have enough housing for all of our people, we have not been building enough for our population growth, and that is causing many of us to be priced out. I hate seeing our people leave and the face of Hawai‘i change. I am a native Hawaiian, kanaka maoli, single mother, born and raised in Hawai‘i, lived only here, all my life, and have been committed to this cause.
But over the last several weeks many lies have been said about me and my family. Threats have been made against me, loved ones who don't even work for the government, and even children. I love my family, and for the sake of their health and safety, I've been left with no choice but to resign from my position.
With my resignation, the discussions about housing should no longer about me. We need to refocus on the crisis: how will we build more housing for our local people while preserving our environment and respecting our iwi kūpuna. We're already too late for too many.”
