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Editorials
Friday, February 25, 2000
Gov. Cayetano must
appoint OHA trusteesEIGHT of the nine trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs were effectively unseated when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Hawaiians-only voting provision for OHA elections in the state Constitution violated the federal Constitution's ban on racial discrimination in voting rights. That meant the eight trustees were illegally elected -- one trustee, Donald Cataluna, was appointed by Governor Cayetano to fill a vacancy.The issue: Governor Cayetano announced he will appoint eight trustees to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to replace the trustees whose elections were nullified by a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The eight should have resigned immediately, but their refusal to do so changes nothing. Their status as trustees has been abolished. They are out. Any attempt by them to act in their official capacities would be meaningless.
The governor is entirely correct in deciding, upon the advice of the attorney general, that his duty requires him to appoint eight new trustees. Cayetano is not removing the former trustees; he is filling the vacancies created by the Supreme Court decision.
In making these appointments, the governor is not attempting to seize control of the board, as claimed by A. "Frenchy" DeSoto. The Cayetano administration defended the Hawaiians-only voting provision against Harold "Freddy" Rice's lawsuit, which in fact is known as Rice v. Cayetano.
Mililani Trask's call for civil disobedience and resistance by Hawaiians in response to the Supreme Court ruling is irresponsible and can only strengthen the governor's decision to appoint new trustees rather than retain the elected board.
Cayetano said retaining the elected trustees would "make a mockery" of the ruling that their elections were unconstitutional. He is not likely to budge from that position in the face of Senate President Norman Mizuguchi's proposal that the Senate urge the governor to retain the elected trustees by appointing them to the board. Cayetano has already indicated his disdain for the current board by saying it is "virtually dysfunctional at times."
The governor's appointees will serve in an interim capacity, until a new election for the OHA board can be held. In practical terms, that probably means the November general election.
The Rice vs. Cayetano ruling dealt exclusively with the Hawaiians-only voting restriction, not with the state constitutional requirement that the trustees be elected. They still must be -- as soon as it is feasible.
There is a proposal to make the OHA board positions appointive, but this would require a constitutional amendment. Election of the trustees should not be delayed for this reason.
The governor should move quickly to name the new trustees as soon as the legal process permits, in order to minimize disruption to OHA's operations. As for the former trustees, they had better get used to the idea that they are out, although they can seek to regain their seats in the next OHA election.
Weed & Seed program
CRIME has declined considerably in the Chinatown-Kalihi-Palama area since it was targeted for strengthening of law enforcement and social services two years ago. Having overcome initial skepticism, federal, state and city agencies have chosen a Waipahu neighborhood for a similar coordinated effort at revitalization. It is an area that merits such attention.
The U.S. Justice Department devised Operation Weed and Seed seven years ago to combat violent crime, drug use and drug trafficking. The strategy involved combining intensive law enforcement efforts with attempts to supplant crime with seeds of economic growth, allowing neighborhoods to flourish.
The program was directed in June 1998 at lower Kalihi and Chinatown, including the Mayor Wright housing project, an area where only one-fourth of the residents had jobs and two-thirds were on some form of public assistance.
The area was notorious for violent crime and drug-related offenses, but U.S. Attorney Steven Alm reports that crime has declined by 45 percent since the Weed and Seed Program was initiated.
Alm said more than 100 drug dealers have been arrested and more than 60 convicted in federal court in the last 18 months, with the rest awaiting trial. The arrests are based on a federal law prohibiting the sale of drugs within 1,000 feet of a public housing project, school or park.
In addition, the program has brought free tutoring of children, a new health center for the elderly and other improvements to the area.
Operation Weed and Seed now will be aimed at an economically depressed neighborhood in the ewa part of Waipahu.
The neighborhood accounts for more than one-third of the crimes reported in Waipahu, according to Annette Yamaguchi, chairwoman of the Waipahu Neighborhood Board. Funding for the project will be determined in the next four months; the Chinatown-Kalihi-Palama project received $239,000 in the first year and $175,000 in the second.
Alm says the designation recognizes the commitment of residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations and various government agencies to cooperate in improving the neighborhood. Coordination is crucial.
The Weed and Seed concept has proved itself in Hawaii. Having achieved a measure of success in the Chinatown-Kalihi-Palama area, the program has a good chance of duplicating that record in Waipahu.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
