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Now that a federal court judge has temporarily opened the door for anyone to file papers as a candidate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the question remains just how many of the nine trustee seats are up for grabs this November. OHA vacancy count
awaits court rulingBy Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinAs scheduled, the terms of four trustees expire at the end of the year, but there may be more seats to fill. That's because both the state and OHA are awaiting a response from the Hawaii Supreme Court on whether the Rice vs. Cayetano decision created any immediate vacancies on the board.
Gov. Ben. Cayetano insists the Feb. 23 U.S. Supreme Court ruling vacated all nine seats, while OHA contends the ruling narrowly applies to the now-defunct voting restriction that required voters be of Hawaiian ancestry.
OHA legal counsel and retired Hawaii justice Robert Klein said this week the high court has received all the information needed to rule on their joint motion.
He hopes the justices will issue an order -- which is binding by both parties -- sometime next week.
In the meantime, Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians will be able to draw OHA nomination papers under the preliminary injunction granted Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor.
Gillmor is expected to give her final ruling at a hearing Sept. 8. That's the filing deadline for the OHA election, which will be Nov. 7.
Yesterday, Kenneth Conklin, one of 13 plaintiffs who sued the state to block the requirement that trustees be of Hawaiian ancestry, took out his OHA papers. He plans to file them within the next two weeks.
So far, 15 people have expressed interest in the board. Trustees Haunani Apoliona, Hannah Springer, Colette Machado and Donald Cataluna are up for re-election this year.
The OHA board was expected to discuss Gillmor's preliminary injunction yesterday, but the board meeting was canceled due to a lack of quorum.
Still, trustees defended the board's decision last week to intervene in the case. Their main contention is whether Conklin will carry out his fiduciary responsibilities as a trustee when he believes OHA is unconstitutional.
"I fail to see how Conklin can raise his right hand to take an oath to protect the trust when his motivation is to break up the trust," trustee Rowena Akana said.
Conklin, an eight-year Hawaii resident, said he's completed opposed to any form of race-based sovereignty and believes people have sovereignty now under the state of Hawaii.
"There is no historical, legal or moral right for race-based political sovereignty," he said. "It took a big struggle in my soul as well as mentally to figure all this out. But that's what I've come down to."
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
