View Point

Saturday, March 21, 1998

Trustee Hee is
hurting OHA board

By Kehaulani Lum

IT is with a heavy heart that I express my extreme disappointment in the conduct of trustee Clayton Hee relating to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' vacancy on the Board of Trustees.

Over the course of several meetings, I have patiently observed the board's actions. I have witnessed first-hand the leadership's serious attempts to create an open environment and process, only to face Hee's constant opposition.

I have watched OHA Chairwoman A. Frenchy DeSoto, again and again, return to the table with proposals of compromise and reconciliation, only to be disparaged in typically un-Hawaiian fashion by someone several years her junior.

I have seen trustee Rowena Akana, on the verge of voting for compromise, sadly cower under Hee's threatening motion and literally lose her ability to voice her vote audibly.

And I have listened as kupuna after kupuna have testified in support of the leadership's actions, even as no single beneficiary has supported Hee's.

But it is his recent memorandum which I find to be most offensive. Hee's refusal to participate in any OHA board meetings is a gross violation of his duty to the trust and the native Hawaiian people.

His demands, for the most part, are onerous, one-sided and impractical, and include the following:

He will not participate until such time as a "meaningful" proposal is submitted 72 hours prior to any board meeting, even though he has repeatedly failed to comply with the spirit of this rule himself.

He will not participate as long as the present chairwoman limits debate on any matter pending before the board.

He seeks assurances in writing that any "heckling" will immediately cease. Unless one plans on muzzling the beneficiaries or holding closed meetings (as was suggested by trustee Akana), it is ludicrous to expect any trustee can provide the assurance, orally or in writing, that beneficiaries will not voice their discontent.

In light of Hee's refusal to participate, and his failure to move from his original position even as the leadership has thrice offered compromise, it is difficult for any rational person to accept that his motives are altruistic.

Instead Hee's actions appear to be a veiled, desperate attempt to restore his status as chairman, even at the expense of the agency, the trust and the Hawaiian people.

ON March 25, the clock will strike on OHA's ability to appoint an interim trustee, and the future of this agency and the Hawaiian people will rest in the hands of the governor, the very person who has gone on record as opposing our due entitlement.

He is a man who, with all due respect, has withheld several millions of dollars from this agency and thus the Hawaiian people. His actions are arguably costing the trust millions more in legal fees and lost interest opportunity.

He is a man who represents the very entity against which the OHA trustees have battled for justice for so long.

Several weeks ago, hundreds of Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians descended upon the state Capitol, extolling the virtues of Hawaiian tradition and practice, and admonishing attempts to dictate and define our sovereignty.

In a 10-hour hearing, over 200 people testified against the Native Hawaiian Autonomy Act. And virtually every individual said that the Hawaiian people can and will achieve our own destiny.

The appointment of a successor to Beamer is a simple, temporary litmus test. Yet failure to perform will render the voices of our people insignificant and will further empower those who are intent on diminishing our rights and freedoms.

The question remains: Will trustee Hee and his team be a part of the solution or a part of the problem? If his oath is honorable and his motives pure, he must return to the table and perform his duties.

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Kehaulani Lum is an Aiea resident and OHA beneficiary.