The Social Security Administration will no longer offer in-person services in West Hawaii.
An administration spokeswoman from Honolulu announced on Friday the end of the Kona satellite office, which offered services once a month for about four hours at the West Hawaii Civic Center. Hawaii District Manager Samiah Omari blamed budget cuts for the department’s decision.
The decision leaves just one Social Security office on Hawaii Island, in Hilo.
“The vulnerable populations definitely lose out on this,” The Arc of Kona President and CEO Gretchen Lawson said Friday morning, noting a trip to Hilo would take at least two hours driving time each direction and cost $50 to $70 round trip for gasoline. “That’s appalling news. The people we support are vulnerable and totally dependent on Social Security.”
Social Security spokeswoman Jane Yamamoto-Burigsay said she did not have the cost of the Kona visits available on Friday. About 200 people a month visit the satellite office, she said.
West Hawaii residents in April complained then about long lines and lack of places for people to sit, as well as the limited time to resolve Social Security problems in person without driving to Hilo. Yamamoto-Burigsay said Rep. Mazie Hirono’s staff had been working with the administration to find a way to set up videoconferencing from Kona.
She said the latest meeting on that subject was also on Friday, but she would not have any updated information on any outcomes until Monday.
Hawaii County Managing Director Wally Lau said the county did not charge the federal administration for using the Civic Center, and the county offered support in the form of staff setting up chairs and finding community volunteers with information for senior citizens.
Mayor Billy Kenoi said the county administration encourages federal agencies to offer services at the Civic Center, which is centrally located for many West Hawaii residents.
The decision to end the West Hawaii visits is “so disappointing,” Kenoi said. “It’s obviously a decision made by someone not from Hawaii Island.”
Expecting people, particularly seniors, to drive to Hilo or access services online, is unreasonable, Kenoi said.
“It’s going to make it much more challenging, especially for our seniors in West Hawaii,” he added.
He said his administration would reach out to the Social Security Administration and ask officials to reconsider the decision.
The absence of a physical office in West Hawaii won’t just hurt senior citizens, who may not be comfortable using the administration’s online services, but also people seeking driver’s licenses who learn, when they go to renew those licenses, they have the wrong paperwork, Lau added. When the administration did offer services at the Civic Center, at least people trying to renew licenses the one day a month the administration’s staff was in town could resolve those paperwork issues, Lau said.
At the time, both Sen. Daniel Inouye and Hirono expressed shock at the situation and vowed to investigate. Hirono has since cited the incident several times in listing her responsiveness to constituents, particularly at events during her successful campaign to become Hawaii’s newest U.S. Senator.
Hirono’s office did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning. A request for comment from Inouye’s office also received no response Friday afternoon.
Omari said most Social Security business does not require an in-person interview, and instead directed people to use the administration’s website, socialsecurity.gov. Social Security also has a toll-free telephone service with agents Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and recorded information all the time. That number is (800) 772-1213.
