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I agree with Gov. Ben Cayetano that trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are a dysfunctional bunch, often too concerned with their self-interest to attend to the interests of Hawaiians they were elected to represent. Leave OHA
trustees in
their seatsI also accept that it's not for me to decide what's functional for Hawaiians and what's not in their drive for self-determination. Neither is it for the governor to decide.
This week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling made clear that Hawaiians-only OHA elections are unconstitutional and the means of selecting trustees must change. But Cayetano's plan to evict and replace the OHA trustees without waiting for the next election will be read as an opportunistic power grab and cause needless division. It also sets up a potentially ugly legal battle with trustees, who say they won't step aside.
The Supreme Court provided no clear mandate for immediate removal of the trustees and, unless they show signs of recklessness in response to the ruling, there is no harm in leaving them in office until this can be sorted out by the Legislature or in the fall election.
By citing their dysfunction, Cayetano made the trustees' removal a political issue rather than a legal obligation. Dysfunctional or not, they were duly elected by the Hawaiian people in an election that was fair, if unconstitutional. The current trustees are the obvious ones to mind the store until a proper election can be held. Either we're committed to self-determination or we're not.
Dissident trustees see a plot to assert non-Hawaiian control of OHA -- especially in its dispute with the state over Hawaiian land rights that has annoyed Cayetano since he took office. Cayetano says he's insulted by the suggestion, but what else are they supposed to think?
Trustee A. Frenchy DeSoto charges that Cayetano destroyed Kamehameha Schools for Hawaiians and is now out to get OHA too. This is ludicrous. Cayetano saved Kamehameha Schools by sending in the attorney general to investigate its corrupt trustees. Only those who benefited from the plundering of the former trustees dispute that Kamehameha Schools is now far better off than before Cayetano acted.
But OHA is another matter. From what we know, OHA trustees are guilty only of incompetence -- not the gross malfeasance of the Bishop trustees. There is no compelling need for the governor to step in and clean it up.
Cayetano was too quick on the trigger. He announced his plan so soon after the court ruled that it looked like he was laying in wait for the opportunity to take control of OHA. Cayetano should have at least held back to hear what remedies Hawaiians will propose, as House and Senate leaders have wisely done.
Attorney John Goemans, who represented Big Island rancher Freddy Rice in the voting rights case, now threatens to go after all special benefits for Hawaiians. It's troubling that one who has so much is so devoted to taking away from those who have so little. Fair-minded people must now make clear that our commitment to doing right by Hawaiians remains strong.
The Supreme Court had little choice but to rule that an election conducted by the state of Hawaii cannot exclude voters on the basis of race. It all goes back to the issue of whether OHA should be a state agency or a quasi-sovereign entity.
If Hawaiians can unite behind a workable plan to bring OHA's $300 million in resources under sovereign Hawaiian control, it could be an unprecedented opportunity to advance their native rights.
David Shapiro is managing editor of the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at editor@starbulletin.com.
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