---

Senators’ political power
play hurts Hawaiians

This past legislative session, Sens. Colleen Hanabusa and Clayton Hee struck a potentially crippling blow at funding the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation receives from the Legislature through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. It could jeopardize our organization's ability to provide legal representation to Hawaiians.

On very short notice, nearly 100 Hawaiian individuals and organizations opposed the senators' actions, to no avail. Appeals to their Senate colleagues were not fruitful. These senators said they must defer to the committee leaders. Hanabusa is chairwoman and Hee is vice chairman of the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs committees.

There was strong support for NHLC in the House of Representatives, but the Senate ultimately prevailed. The choices presented were either (a) the House agree with the Senate; or (b) zero funding for NHLC. At OHA's urging, the House Hawaiian Affairs Committee leadership, Reps. Scott Saiki and Mele Carroll, agreed with the Senate to avoid having all state funding cut.

For 30 years NHLC has represented Hawaiians in complex land, natural resources, cultural practices and breach of public trust cases. In one fell swoop, Hee and Hanabusa wielded their considerable authority and influence to single out NHLC's funding as an item within OHA's budget to be subject to a competitive bidding process.

Complex Hawaiian rights cases typically take many years to resolve. A year-to-year competitive bidding process could undermine the ability of any attorney, from NHLC or elsewhere, to resolve the legal issues that beset Hawaiians today. The OHA grants process that funded NHLC in the past had been supported by the Legislature until Hee, since his recent election, decided change was necessary.

The action by Hanabusa and Hee was wholly unnecessary, as borne out by an opinion from the Attorney General's Office they had requested regarding the legality of NHLC's OHA funding and whether it exposed the state to liability.

The AG's opinion dated Feb. 22 stated that OHA's funding of NHLC was legally and constitutionally sound and did not expose the state to any liability.

As a former OHA trustee and chairman of the OHA board, Hee had gone along for many years with OHA's funding approach to NHLC. There had been, however, instances where he had expressed dissatisfaction with NHLC, including:

» While OHA chairman, Hee suggested privately that NHLC back away from the Hokulia case, the large Kona resort development involving land use, burials, historic sites and shoreline pollution issues.

» He had questioned why NHLC did not accept his relatives as clients in a case involving burials discovered at the newly opened Wal-Mart site. NHLC already represented clients whose interests conflicted with those of Hee's family. NHLC was therefore ethically precluded from taking them on as clients.

» He said there were other attorneys who were interested in representing Hawaiians in native rights issues, and they should have a chance at the funding NHLC receives. (For many years, NHLC operated with volunteers. We hope attorneys who come forward now do so out of conviction, not just dollars.)

At a Senate committee public hearing, Hee espoused "transparency in government" as his rationale for requiring NHLC be subject to a competitive bidding process. This is a principal tenet of NHLC's advocacy, and we wholeheartedly support it if there is a good reason.

It seems questionable, however, whether subjecting NHLC to a competitive bidding process was the best means to accomplish this transparency, especially when the attorney general's opinion found the current funding approach to be legally sufficient and therefore transparent enough.

Moreover, perhaps to diffuse negative reaction in the Hawaiian community, Hee privately suggested to me and a senior staff attorney that we get together with OHA to make sure specifications were written to ensure NHLC be successful in any future competitive bidding process. We therefore question the senator's pretext regarding his desire for transparency in government.

After learning of recent maneuverings by Hanabusa and Hee regarding their ambitions relative to Senate leadership, it appears Hee might have had an axe to grind with OHA and gotten Hanabusa to carry out a personal vendetta, with NHLC as pawn, in exchange for his support of her leadership.

If this is true, Hawaii and Hawaiians deserve better.

---