23 OHA hopefuls Legal challenges threaten its existence. A dispute over ceded land revenue needs to be settled. Federal recognition is pending for native Hawaiians.
face deluge of issues
By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comThere is no shortage of issues awaiting the 23 candidates vying for the five board of trustee seats at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs this year.
"Defending Hawaiian entitlements and securing recognition are the inseparable issues most immediately needing a resolution in favor of Hawaiians and the people of Hawaii," said Boyd Mossman, a retired Maui judge who is running for that island's OHA seat.
The five trustees elected on Nov. 5 will join sitting trustees Haunani Apoliona, Linda Dela Cruz, Colette Machado and Donald Cataluna sometime in late November. The four are all up for re-election in 2004.
First on the agenda for the new board is to lobby state legislators for passage of a bill next spring that restores ceded-land revenue payments to the agency. A Hawaii Supreme Court ruling on Sept. 12, 2001, invalidated a state law that defined how the state should pay OHA its 20 percent share of revenue from public trust or ceded lands.
OHA plans a major lobbying effort in the next session, and until then, must continue to rely entirely on funds from its $300 million investment portfolio.
Trustee Oswald Stender, who is up for re-election for his at-large seat this year, said ceded-land revenue is OHA's life blood. A long-awaited settlement would give the agency an economic base within which OHA can plan programs to better conditions for the Hawaiian people, he said.
"It will also put an end to the challenges of Hawaiian entitlements," Stender said.
Charles Rose, a candidate for Oahu trustee, said he believes Hawaiians can also end legal challenges by forming their own entity free of governmental control. A bill in Congress that sets up a process for federal recognition remains stalled in the U.S. Senate.
It is just a question of what kind of entity it should be and who should form it, he said. "I believe that the Hawaiian people should make that decision," said Rose, a retired Hawaii County police captain. "I do not believe that OHA can and should form the entity. However, OHA should provide the necessary funding needed to form the entity."
But for OHA to do that, it will likely have to increase the amount of money it can spend annually. An interim board of trustees in late September 2000 imposed a 5 percent annual spending limit on OHA's investment portfolio.
Of course, that limit could be changed by another board.
Trustee John D. Waihee IV, also up for re-election, said he would support spending more of that money as a last resort. First, he would like to see the agency raise revenue through economic development and by tapping any available money from the federal government.
"I think we should do whatever it takes to ensure we fulfill our mandate," Waihee said. "If that means spending more, I'd be willing to do that."
George Kaimiola, a candidate for the Maui seat, agreed OHA should spend more of its money instead of watching its investment portfolio lose millions of dollars in today's struggling stock market.
For example, he suggested, OHA could spend more on child and senior day care.
Others disagree.
Dante Carpenter, former Big Island mayor and an Oahu seat candidate, said the spending limits should stand until the board can implement its five-year strategic plan.
Carpenter, a former OHA administrator, added that a two-thirds vote of the OHA board is needed to change the spending policy.
And candidate Louis "Buzzy" Agard, a current OHA staffer, said the trust must be kept in perpetuity. He said trustees must make adjustments to compensate for the fluctuation in the stock markets.
Five of the nine trustee seats are up for election at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Here are the candidates: OHA trustee candidates
At-large trustee (3 seats):
Darrow L.K. Aiona
Rowena M.N. Akana
Roy I. Benham
Mike Hanohano
Adrian K. Kamalii
Frankie K. Kawelo
Demetrius Keliiholokai
Charles M.L.S. Nakoa
Oswald Stender
John D. Waihee IVMaui trustee (1 seat):
Wilmont K. Kahaialii Jr.
George M. Kaimiola
Boyd P. Mossman
Robert K. Wilcox Jr.Oahu trustee (1 seat):
Louis "Buzzy" Agard
Dante K. Carpenter
A.K.U. Chang
Jerry K.M. Freeman
Leona M. Kalima
Orrin Kupau
M. Kehaulani Rezentes
Charles Rose
Marion H. Shim
