City Council members met yesterday to discuss the homeless problem in Kapi'olani Park, which residents and park users say is getting worse and needs to be addressed.

Alethea Rebman, president of the Kapi'olani Park Preservation Society, said she has gotten reports of homeless people at the park charging tourists and others to use the bathrooms near the concession stand and harassing park users for money.

Police said they have not heard about the reports.

Rebman said no group of people should be able to "commandeer" the park, and supported proposed legislation that would ban camping in the park around the clock in an effort to keep the homeless out.

"We do support an effort to get the homeless out of the park because these are encampments in the park," she said.

Council members, however, were divided on how to move forward on the homeless issue and deferred making a decision until March. The council members are trustees of the park under a 1991 court ruling, but have not held a trustees meeting since Sept. 6, 2007.

Most of the discussion yesterday was on the homeless in Kapi'olani and whether Bill 2, the 24-hour camping ban, should be supported. The bill has passed a first reading in the City Council.

Councilman Charles Djou, who introduced the measure and who is chairman of the Kapi'olani Park trustees, said the park has become a "squatters village." He urged council members to act before crime becomes a major problem in the neighborhood.

"Clearly, we have a huge, pressing issue with the homeless in Kapi'olani Park," Djou said during the hourlong meeting. "It is a beautiful park that is being taken over by a select few."

But City Councilman Todd Apo said a ban on camping at Kapi'olani might be good for the park, while being bad for other spots.

"So where do they go?" Apo said. "I'll take a guess. A majority of them are going to move out to the Leeward Coast."

In Kapi'olani Park yesterday afternoon, there were at least 12 tents set up by homeless people. Park users say the number of tents goes up in the early evening and late morning. Still, the numbers are much lower than the 100 people who were living in the park in September, before the city's islandwide illegal camping ban went into effect.

The prohibition extends to all city parks, forbidding camping without a permit between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. But Kapi'olani users say homeless at the park are skirting the law by sleeping during the day and sitting up in the park at night to avoid being ticketed.

About 20 people testified at the meeting yesterday, including several who opposed the expanded ban. Bob Erb, pastor of Waikiki Beach Outreach Ministry, called the proposal "outrageous."

"If we can take care of the cats and dogs as part of the infrastructure, we ought to be taking care of the poor," Erb said. "They're not just going to vanish. Wake up!"

Officials from the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i also testified against the bill, saying it has serious constitutional problems since it would single out homeless users of the park but not other users.

Real estate consultant Stefany Sofos countered that the homeless population in Kapi'olani is hurting tourism and said something needs to be done.

"It is sad that homeless don't have a place to go, but it should not be Kapi'olani," she said.

City Parks Director Les Chang said the proposed expansion of the camping ban could be one solution for dealing with the problem, and is one of several ideas the administration is considering. "I don't know what the answer is," he added.