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Apoliona All for one board and one board for all Hawaiians. That's the message espoused by the new leadership at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
elected chairwoman
of OHA
The new leader calls for all
board members to use their talents
to help the group succeedBy Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin"We must be focused on the issues, use the talents that we have and move forward with a focus," said new Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona.
"Every person on this board has talents, skills and background that we can collectively utilize for success as a whole," she said.
Apoliona became OHA's fourth chairperson since 1997 after a 6-3 vote yesterday in which trustees for the first time used written ballots to avoid the peer pressure of a verbal roll call.
Joining Apoliona in the new majority are Colette Machado, Donald Cataluna, Linda Dela Cruz, Oswald Stender and John Waihee IV.
The three remaining trustees -- Clayton Hee, Rowena Akana and Charles Ota -- voted for Hee to continue as chairman.
Akana and Hee are the most senior trustees and led the board between 1998 and 2000 following A. Frenchy DeSoto's tenure as chairwoman.
Ota is the first non-Hawaiian to serve as an appointed or elected trustee.
Cataluna was named vice chairman after defeating fellow nominee Akana by a 5-4 vote. Cataluna, who resigned along with the rest of the board Sept. 7 to show unity, said he had wanted Apoliona to become chairwoman even before then because she represented a "new face with fresh eyes."
"I was looking only to be a trustee, and I'm very appreciative the members of the board of trustees had confidence in me, voting me in as vice chair," Cataluna said.
Dela Cruz said Apoliona showed leadership in her enthusiasm and spirit to work for the Hawaiian people, as well as her willingness to help freshman trustees.
"I know that Clayton also has leadership. He has done a lot, and I know that he has worked hard, but I think it's time for a change," Dela Cruz said before the leadership vote.
"If we say we want change, let's make it from the top. ...Haunani has never been chairman, so let her have a chance," she said.
Meanwhile, Stender said it was a new experience taking a public vote for chairman. The former Bishop Estate trustee said it was difficult to vote in a public forum after all of his time on private company and nonprofit boards.
"I think it was difficult to put us, particularly the trustees, in a position to have to take a public vote like this," Stender said.
"We have not met as nine people in a room to discuss issues, and the problem is, it's difficult to do that. There's an audience, and we would be kanalua (hesitant) to say things and would withhold comments which should be made openly and honestly with each other. Unfortunately, it's the rule that we have to follow," he said.
Stender said he supported whomever the majority wanted, but would have preferred unanimous support.
The board is expected to meet next week to vote on committee assignments, which will allow the board to act on several fronts, including pending litigation in federal court that threatens OHA's existence and ceded-land funding, OHA's biennium budget and the 2001 legislative session.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
