Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 3, 1 March 1988 — From the Chairman's Desk [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

From the Chairman's Desk

By Moses K. Keale Sr., OHA Chairman Trustee, Ni'ihau and Kaua'i

Ho 'olokahi, Voting

lt is with mueh humility and a deep feeling of appreciation that as Chairman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of T rustees and as a member of the planning committee, I extend heartfelt thanks to the thousands of you who worked long and hard in making Ho'olokahi Hawaiian Unity Day Jan. 23 an overwhelming success. Yes, we stood tall and proud that day and the mana really was there. But I question if we would have made this kind of impact without your kokua of time, food, money, equipment and manpower. A lot of you were from different ethnic segments of our community and yet you made it happen. You gave of yourselves in a very ohana way and your efforts will long be remembered. My mahalo, too, to all of you who took the time to attend. From where 1 sat, 1 know you had a good time and enjoyed yourselves. That we have eome of age so to speak was never more evident than in your attendance and participation. We eame together and we have matured. You showed by your support of Ho'olokahi that Hawaiians are now a united force. You have shown we ean eome together as one united in a cause. No one ean ignore a force of over 50,000 Hawaiians and Hawaiians-at-heart coming together the way you did. We must continue to show this kind of force if we are to achieve our goals of getting benefits for our Hawaiians. One way we ean do this is at the ballot boxes during the 1988 elections. This is an election year on the federal, state and county levels. There will also be an election for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees with four Trustee seats to be filled on General Election Day Nov. 8. A complete story on the OHA election appears elsewhere in this issue.

In this regard, we strongly urge you to register and exercise your right to vote. We are heartened to leam that more than 400 of you took the opportunity to register to vote or to make address or name changes at the voter registration tables Jan. 23 at Aloha Stadium. Remember that it isn't a question of registering but going to the polls on election day and casting your ballot that is equally important. We ean no longer take a laid-back attitude and be complacent about your voting franchise anymore. This is the year you ean speak up as a united force at the ballot boxes. But remember that before you ean do this, you must first register to vote. Should you need to do this, any OHA office will be happy to assist you. Or you may register at any of the County Clerk's offices. Additionally, 1 am sure there will be registration tables onee more at many of the shopping centers and other loeations. We again extend our sincerest mahalo to all of you — workers, entertainers, participants, spectators — for contributing to the success of Ho'olokahi.