OHA board opposes
leasehold land bill

---

By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs board has voted to oppose a City Council bill that would make it easier to convert leasehold land owned by the Queen Liliuokalani Trust under the Foster Towers condominium project in Waikiki.

The Council is expected in September to take up the bill, which would clarify the condominium leasehold conversion process.

Opponents say selling the land would hurt resources needed to service native Hawaiian children. At issue is land that was the site of Liliuokalani's Waikiki residence. The queen left her estate to benefit underprivileged Hawaiian children. The trust's Waikiki land holdings provide the bulk of the revenue for its programs.

OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona said the board's action reaffirms a 1989 OHA resolution that opposed loss of native land through conversion.

"OHA continues to defend entitlements and rights of native Hawaiians, and Kamehameha Schools is still dealing with the aftermath related to their oversight by non-Hawaiian entities," Apoliona said.

"So I think it's a very important time for the Hawaiian leadership and the trust and agencies to support each other in their efforts, because this is all about the community that we're serving."

The Council this month voted 5-4 to advance the bill. At issue is a recent Hawaii Supreme Court opinion that the current law says no conversion action can begin unless a minimum of either 25 owner-occupants or 50 percent of the owners of all units in a project agree to the action.

The Council bill would amend the law to make the minimum requirement either 25 owner-occupants or 50 percent of owner-occupants.