The Hawaii Public Housing Authority is considering a radical solution to decades of backlogged repairs, aging projects and limited resources: selling properties or units and ending state oversight of public housing.

The proposal, which officials stressed is still very preliminary, is part of a draft "vision" before the housing authority board that includes "self-sufficient families living in units that they own that were previously public housing" and the authority — the largest affordable-housing landlord in the Islands — "no longer in existence."

The draft says the "public housing shelter model has been broken for 40 years" and "having an ownership stake in their housing encourages people to take pride in their physical surroundings and become responsible for their future." Under the proposal, the agency would sell some units to tenants and also redevelop rental projects under a mixed-income model aimed at deconcentrating poverty while preserving affordability.

It's not clear how many units would be sold and how many would remain rentals, but authority officials say public housing properties would remain affordable. The vision is meant to plan the agency's next five to 10 years.

The end of state oversight would be the most dramatic change in the 74-year history of public housing in Hawaii, which is considered a critical safety net for the poor and today houses 20,000 people in communities across the state.

Linda Smith, a member of the housing authority and special adviser to the governor, helped draft the vision and said housing would still need to be provided for the elderly and for those transitioning out of homelessness. But the vision says those projects need not be state-managed. She added that the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands provides a model for helping move low-income families into home ownership.

"What is the best plan for (families) to move toward a goal of not having to be dependent on the state?" Smith asked. "This is the very beginning of the process. What we're really looking at is the structure" of the agency.

National public housing experts say they have heard of no other housing authority of the Hawaii agency's size ending oversight of projects, which some see as a critical component to ensuring housing units set aside for the most vulnerable remain affordable.

There is some precedence, though. In 2007, the San Diego Housing Authority did leave the federal housing program, instead receiving subsidies for 1,366 public housing apartments.

Meanwhile, advocates and some lawmakers are wary of the discussion, saying the state is obligated to make sure those on the waiting list for public housing are served.

National experts also say that the idea of selling public housing units to tenants has been attempted before, with little success. Units were sold in small numbers to tenants after a federal push for homeownership in the 1980s and '90s. But income requirements for ownership meant many families weren't able to take on a mortgage.

Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, of which Hawaii's agency is a member, said the vision "does run contrary to what we're seeing in most of the major metropolitan areas." She added that selling public housing to tenants "went nowhere as a proposal. It didn't make sense economically."

AFFORDABILITY FEARS

Local advocates worry — despite agency assurance — that remaining rental units won't stay affordable.

"I'm a little bit nervous," said state Rep. Rida Cabanilla, chairwoman of the Housing Committee, adding she plans to take up the question of selling public housing in the coming session. Cabanilla, D-42nd (Ewa, Waipahu, Honouliuli) also questioned the wisdom of getting rid of state oversight.

The housing authority manages 6,200 federally and state-funded public housing apartments and also oversees state homeless programs (which officials are trying to move directly under the Department of Human Services) and the Section 8 rental voucher program. In recent years, as the state pushes to tackle a homeless crisis that appears to be worsening, public housing has taken a large number of homeless families from shelters.

Today, there are 7,740 families alone on the waiting list to get into federal public housing projects.

Some 6,480 families are waiting to move into state-funded projects.

For years, the housing authority has been mired in problems, with seven executive directors in the last decade and an aging inventory rife with maintenance needs, estimated to top $1 billion over the next 30 years. But recently, it has worked to whittle away at the number of units left vacant because of needed repairs, has increased its rent collection and has preached a message of personal responsibility to tenants in an effort to clean up projects.

Chad Taniguchi, the agency's executive director, declined to comment specifically on the vision. The board announced in September that it was looking for a new director, saying it was unsure Taniguchi had the leadership capabilities needed to lead the agency. He has applied for his job, as have about 30 other people.

Taniguchi did say, in an e-mailed statement, that he is "optimistic about the future of public housing."

He added that "I have been focusing on making public housing work, as it does in the vast majority of states and communities in the U.S. In contrast to being one of the weakest state agencies financially in July 2008, HPHA is now one of the strongest state agencies because we are largely funded through federal funds and rent collections, which can sustain operations." He also said he has seen a "tremendous rise" in residents in public housing volunteering to clean up projects and take "stronger roles" in communities.

Authority board Chairman Travis Thompson said the board will take up the vision draft again at its regular meeting on Nov. 19. It will also go before tenants in public meetings, probably in early 2010. Thompson stressed that the plan is in early stages, and also said that the board understands the continued need for affordable housing.

But he did say the long-term plan is about brainstorming ideas for fixing a system that has largely failed to help low-income families move up, and in many cases has only succeeded in getting them stuck in poverty-dense housing projects. Public housing "doesn't work the way it should," he said. "I like the notion of trying something different."

He added that public housing was designed to provide low-income families with stability, until they could save up to move on. But many haven't done that. About 39 percent of those in federally funded projects in Hawaii have lived in the projects a decade or more.

Nationally, about 29 percent of families have been in public housing for a decade or more.

Advocates argue the difference is the high cost of housing in the Islands. But some board members say families might also need a push to be self-sufficient. "People get very comfortable, and they stay there," Thompson said.

There would likely be a host of hurdles to the long-term vision, not least of which is how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would react to the plan. HUD provides the state with a subsidy — about $12 million annually — to maintain federally funded public housing projects. In return, the state must seek approvals for major changes at projects, and comply with rules and housing standards.

Advocates, meanwhile, say the state's vision runs contrary to the mission of public housing.

And they question how selling units — even to tenants — would help the greatest number of people.

Jun Yang, an advocate for Faith Action for Community Equity, a nonprofit that has been working with residents at Kuhio Park Terrace as the project is pegged for a pilot redevelopment project, said he's concerned about the direction in which the agency board is moving and wonders how people on the waiting list will be served if units are sold to tenants.

'HUGE ... SHORTAGE'

"We're in a huge housing shortage," he said. "If HPHA were to leave the housing business, there's no one to pick up the slack. There's no one to make sure that affordable housing stays affordable."

The Rev. Bob Nakata, longtime affordable housing advocate, said the authority has an obligation to make sure public housing is well maintained and managed so people who are eligible have a shot at getting in.

He said even if a private entity oversees day-to-day operations, the state needs to remain involved.

"The government cannot abdicate its responsibility," he said.

The vision comes as the housing authority prepares to kick off the $316 million redevelopment of Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes. Michaels Development Co., a New Jersey-based developer, will model the redevelopment on successful redevelopment projects in other states, which add near-market- or market-priced units to bring in more money for maintenance and to deconcentrate poverty, while ensuring a one-for-one replacement of affordable units.

Construction on the project is to start in 2011 and last a decade.

As part of the plan, the buildings at Kuhio Park Terrace will be sold, while the land at the project will be leased.

POTENTIAL SOLUTION

Leasing the land, the agency has said, ensures the state retains control.

The mixed-income redevelopment being piloted at Kuhio Park Terrace — the last public housing high-rise west of the Rockies and the largest public housing project in the state — is seen as a potential solution for addressing a host of maintenance concerns at public housing projects and is the second major component of the long-term vision.

The vision asks the housing authority to identify all projects that lend themselves to mixed-income redevelopment.

Housing authority board member Rene Berthiaume, who also helped draft the vision, said public housing units should remain affordable in perpetuity, but weren't meant as a "multigenerational entitlement." He said the long-term plan is meant to give tenants a bigger stake, either through owning their units or living in a redeveloped project.

"The idea is rooted in the fact that our public housing is deteriorated quite a bit," he said.

The proposal comes as the city seeks to sell its 12 affordable housing properties because of increased maintenance needs and costs. The first, Kulana Nani in Käneohe, will go on the market next year, the city said.

All 12 will remain affordable, city officials say, with lease restrictions.