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Cayetano: The Office of Hawaiian Affairs will not survive if it does not structure its elections to obey the U.S. Supreme Court, Gov. Ben Cayetano warned.
OHA trustees
must step down
Chairman Hee suggests they
'sit down over a bowl of poi'By Richard Borreca
Star-BulletinAt a state Capitol news conference, Cayetano said OHA trustees are sitting in office illegally because the court ruled they were not properly elected.
"If OHA wants to survive, you need to follow the ruling in the Rice case and open the election process to non-Hawaiians as well," Cayetano said.
Cayetano was reacting to the Supreme Court decision Monday to leave the contested OHA trustees in office, noting that the court said the state failed to ask that the trustees be removed.
In a limited decision, the court said the state was correct in assuming the trustees' position wasn't supported by any law but didn't request they be removed.
Cayetano will go back to court to request the trustees' removal and if that is granted after the election, he will appoint new trustees.
"Unless the court fashions some sort of process, my guess is I would be appointing people," Cayetano said.
The controversy started this spring when Cayetano reacted to the U.S. Supreme court's Rice vs. Cayetano decision by saying the trustees should all be removed.
Four of the nine trustees' positions are scheduled to for election in November; Cayetano says they are all illegally in office.
"The highest court in our nation has said they are there illegally," Cayetano said.
OHA Chairman Clayton Hee reacted saying he wanted to talk to Cayetano about the state's position.
"Maybe we could sit down over a bowl of poi," Hee suggested.
The Rice decision, which said the state couldn't limit elections to Hawaii voters, is fostering "an atmosphere of stopping Hawaiian initiative," Hee said.
"This kind of effort is not helpful to the community at large," Hee added.
But Cayetano maintains that the Hawaiian movement has to seriously consider what it wants to do.
For instance, the proposed federal recognition, in Cayetano's opinion, doesn't go far enough and may not be able to withstand a constitutional challenge.
"You can not remedy what the court rules unconstitutional by passing another federal law, if it is unconstitutional because it focuses on race," Cayetano said.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
