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OHA’s Apoliona
vows to keep stressing
fiscal accountability

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Office of Hawaiian Affairs budget Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona said she will continue to push for more fiscal accountability at the agency despite her unsuccessful attempts to reformat OHA's trust fund budget.

"I will continue to have concerns about clarity and accountability of the spending of the funds," Apoliona said.

The OHA board on Thursday unanimously approved a $12 million operations and personnel budget for fiscal year 2001. The budget, passed in the second of two meetings that began Wednesday, is comprised of $5.2 million in personnel costs and $6.8 million for operations.

The budget talks were mired in controversy over the past month as Apoliona and her committee sought more accountability in the budget process by proposing to restructure the budget from four divisions to 11 divisions.

The budget panel held a series of meetings to break down the budget, which drew complaints from OHA staffers who support the four-division structure created by OHA Administrator Randy Ogata after he reorganized the administration last year.

Trustees on Thursday approved a budget that kept the four-division structure while allowing for more accountability sought by the budget committee. Apoliona said yesterday she pushed the budget discussions to improve operations at OHA, and not to stir up trouble.

OHA Chairman Clayton Hee said he was grateful to the trustees, administration and support staff for their "goodwill and spirit" toward passage of the budget.

In a related matter, the OHA board also terminated Bidwell & Riddle as a money manager for OHA after the agency's investment consultant reported the company was consistently under-performing.

The OHA investment portfolio is about $370 million.

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Office of Hawaiian Affairs