OHA sets meeting to
pick new leader

5 trustees aim to oust Hee as chairman
-- again -- and replace him with Apoliona

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs board is expected to name its sixth chairman in five years at a reorganization meeting next Wednesday to replace Clayton Hee with former chairwoman Haunani Apoliona.

If successful, it will be the sixth leadership change since 1997, when Hee, who had served as chairman for several years, was replaced by now-retired trustee Frenchy DeSoto.

Hee learned of the reorganization yesterday and said he plans to "talk story" with trustees to see if he can stop it.

"But I've been down this road before. And the sad thing is it doesn't bode well for the organization," Hee said.

"Obviously, it will give me some time to focus on other things as well," said Hee, who is a likely Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

The reorganization meeting is set for 1 p.m. next Wednesday at OHA headquarters.

The proposed new five-member board majority -- Apoliona and trustees Colette Machado, Oz Stender, Donald Cataluna and Linda Dela Cruz -- said after five months of inactivity under Hee's leadership, trustees want to restore stability to the agency. Foremost, they want to implement policies that will add clarity and function to OHA's goals.

Trustees did not get any direction from Hee during his latest stint as chairman, Stender said yesterday. The question for the five was whether they should sit back and let Hee do what he wants or try and do the right thing and reorganize -- something Stender didn't want to do but felt was needed.

"Do we sit back and ignore it or do we do something?" Stender said. "It's not a happy situation, but the trustees are concerned."

Hee, who assumed the chairmanship in September from Apoliona, had pushed a multi-million dollar emergency jobs program to help Hawaii residents laid off in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The measure, however, stalled from a lack of board support and remains pending before a committee of the whole.

The board held mostly neighbor island meetings last fall to fulfill its constitutional requirement to travel to all of the major neighbor islands.

Key to this proposed leadership change is Dela Cruz, who helped solidify Hee's chairmanship in September. But a recent conflict with Hee prompted Dela Cruz to seek new leadership under Apoliona.

In exchange for her support, Dela Cruz will serve as board vice chairwoman.

Apoliona said all five trustees are taking this reorganization seriously and that she did not initiate this reorganization. Dela Cruz, she said, has considered the switch in support for two months and is resolved for change.

Apoliona hopes this new leadership team will remain in place until the OHA elections in September, when five of nine trustee seats are up for election.

The new board majority said they plan to reorganize with little disruption to the current committee structure. Some changes will include all nine trustees as members of the budget and finance committee, and regularly scheduled meetings to maximize participation by trustees, staff, guests and beneficiaries, they said.

Caught off guard by the move was Vice Chairwoman Rowena Akana, who learned of the proposed reorganization from state Sen. Fred Hemmings (R, Waimanalo) at a hearing yesterday.

Akana said the change comes at the worst time for the OHA board as it works to get much-needed measures approved by the Legislature, and while it deals with legal challenges.