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State vows
to install new
OHA trustees

A Hawaii court ruling means
more paperwork and time, possibly
past the next Hawaiian
Affairs elections

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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

In the wake of a Supreme Court decision that left Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees in office, Gov. Ben Cayetano says the state will continue its efforts to remove them.

The state Supreme Court said yesterday that the U.S. Supreme Court's Rice vs. Cayetano ruling, which struck down OHA's Hawaiians-only voting requirement, did not create any immediate vacancies on the board.

However, the justices also gave the state another option.

If the state wants them to determine whether current trustees are legally in office, the court said, the state should file a "quo warranto" petition which allows the parties to return to court to argue why the trustees should or should not be allowed to continue in office until the next election.

The Hawaii Supreme Court agreed with the state's arguments that current trustees became de facto trustees as a result of the Feb. 23 Rice ruling.

But in an 18-page opinion by Associate Justice Mario Ramil, the court ruled the state had no legal authority to back up its contention that being de facto trustees created immediate vacancies, and therefore concluded there were none.

The opinion was signed by four justices, with newly appointed Justice Simeon J. Acoba concurring and filing his own opinion.

New judge to OHA: Heed the inevitable

Acoba said that since the OHA board members are now de facto trustees, he believes they will ultimately be removed from office.

Instead of avoiding the inevitable and defending themselves in quo warranto proceedings, Acoba said, they should focus on an orderly and timely transition of the board in the interest of the state and OHA, without further court action.

Attorney Robert G. Klein, a retired Hawaii associate justice who serves as counsel for OHA on matters concerning the Rice decision, said yesterday's ruling means the trustees can continue in office and exercise their authority.

Klein said the state could have filed the quo warranto petition at any time but that Cayetano chose to rely on his personal authority as governor to remove eight of the nine trustees from office.

"The Supreme Court didn't give them any rights different from the rights they always had," Klein said yesterday.

"But it certainly didn't make it easy for them, because now they have to follow the law and go through court in order to attempt to create vacancies and attempt to get the trustees out of office."

Just 8 days left to declare candidacy

In March, the state and OHA filed a joint motion asking the court to resolve some basic questions:

Did the Rice decision by the U.S. Supreme Court create any vacancies on the OHA board? And if so, when did the vacancy occur, who can fill it, and what is the time frame to do so?

State Deputy Attorney General Girard Lau said the state believed the questions asked in the joint motion covered all the issues.

"Unfortunately, we will have to bring this up in quo warranto proceedings in order to finally resolve the main question," he said.

Lau said the state would file its petition as soon as it can get the paperwork done.

He questions whether the entire proceedings can be done before November's OHA elections.

There are just eight working days until the Sept. 8 deadline to run as a candidate in November for four OHA seats whose terms expire this year.

OHA chief calls Akaka bill more important

OHA Chairman Clayton Hee said yesterday's ruling was significant because the issue was very inflammatory within part of the Hawaiian community.

"It is particularly satisfying to know that the high court ruled by unanimous vote," Hee said.

"Secondly, the fact that they ruled consistent with the United States Supreme Court and with the federal district court is also gratifying."

Hee said OHA needs to turn its attention to more important issues such as the Akaka legislation, as well as continuing to serve the beneficiaries.

State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae), who heads the Senate Water, Land and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, said yesterday the ruling didn't surprise her.

Hanabusa's panel last spring conducted statewide hearings to discuss the Rice decision and said the governor's push to remove the trustees brought the Hawaiian community together.

"That was one of the things, if anything, that 'jelled' the community," she said.

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Office of Hawaiian Affairs