Sure she's up for re-election this year, but it's not like there's even a little rat dog nipping at her heels. She's as good as running unopposed. Gov. Linda Lingle can spend the summer signing a few happy proclamations, shaking hands at obon ceremonies and delivering speeches at garden party charity lunches.

Instead, she's taking on an emotional, dirty, complex social problem in a corner of the state rich folks rarely see.

Where's the quick payoff in that?

Lingle's administration is convening a meeting tonight in Wai'anae to address the huge problem of homelessness along the Leeward Coast. The Lingle team is feeling pretty bold after the Superman act it pulled off in Kaka'ako last month.

After Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann ordered the eviction of hundreds of homeless people from Ala Moana Beach Park so he could hold his big City Centennial party, he and Lingle traded jabs over what to do with all those people and who should be responsible for doing it. Hannemann said the city doesn't have a human services department so the state had to be the one to come up with something.

Lingle more than took up the challenge. Her people stepped in, created a temporary shelter site out of thin air and left Hannemann with nothing to say but the equivalent of "Well, all righty then."

The situation along the beaches from Nanakuli to Makaha makes the former Ala Moana Beach Park encampment look like the littlest band of Cub Scouts. Ever notice how reporters rarely quote Leeward homeless people in stories about Leeward homeless people?

The homeless there are feared, greatly feared. It is considered a lawless land out there under the tarps and behind the rusted out trucks and beyond the crazy-eyed dogs on their rope leashes.

It's going to take more than an empty warehouse and some shower facilities to make a dent in this problem. That is what's so stunning about Lingle's willingness to even acknowledge it. It's not going to be easy to fix. A lesser leader wouldn't even try.

Clearly, the homeless encampments along the Leeward Coast have reached a crisis level; a breadth and depth that finally became untenable to area residents who had just lived with the growing problem for years. But there is often a gap between public sentiment and a politician's actions, particularly when it's a thorny issue during an election year.

That Lingle is willing to look Wai'anae's homeless problem square in the eye is nothing short of brave. If, and this is a huge if, she can actually fix the problem, it will be pretty close to miraculous.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.