Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 2, 1 February 2005 — With the biennium budget completed, ARM will revisit policies, operations and strat plan [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

With the biennium budget completed, ARM will revisit policies, operations and strat plan

Alohamaikākou. InNovember 2004, among other organizational changes, I was elected by the Board of Trustees to chair the Committee on Asset and Resource Management (ARM). Trustee Oswald Stender, the former chair, is now the vice-chair of this committee, and the remaining seven trustees are members. Since November, the ARM Committee had been working on OHA's biennium budget for the next two fiscal years, 2006 and 2007, effective from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2007. In December, the trustees formally approved OH A' s hiennium budget after participation in a two-day workshop, an ARM Committee meeting and finally a Board of Trustees meeting. The OHA administrative budget team is to be commended for their efforts toward a final and challenging budget product. In all, a Biennium Total Operating Budget for FY 2006 ($28,214,838) and FY 2007 ($27,730,363) was approved by the Board of Trustees. Moreover, these amounts represent the largest annual appropriations since OHA's ineeplion in 1979. This is in conjunction with a recent change of the spending policy to

accommodate both the needs of present and future Hawaiian communities proportionately. So now that the trustees have completed this huge task called the hiennium budget, what's next? OHA Bylaws, Article VIII. Committees of the Board, sets forth the purview of the committee as follows: " 1 . Committee on Asset and Resource Management. The committee shall (a) handle all fiscal and budgetary matters and ensure proper management, investment and usage of OHA's trust funds; (b) policy, planning and evaluation; (e) establish policies whieh strengthen OHA's fiscal controls and financial management; (d) overseeing the use of OHA's real estate and to execute policy for the proper use of such lands; oversee the use or condition of any real estate including land to whieh OHA shall have an interest; execute policy on issues of land use, native rights and natural and cultural resources, including inventory, identification, analysis and treatment of land, native rights and natural and cultural resources; (e) review and approve when appropriate grants to programs that support OHA's overall

mission; (f) evaluate all OHA programs in order to decide whether to continue, modify, or terminate funding of any of OHA's programs; (g) develop training and orientation programs for trustees and staff that includes materials relating to trustees, the role of a fiduciary and ethics; (h) in consultation with the chair of the Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment carry out the selection and evaluation of the Administrator." Within ARM's kuleana, certain areas of responsibility are shared by OHA's Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment (BAE). One important area is the review and approval of grants to programs that support OHA's overall mission. Since taking the seat of the ARM chair, numerous requests seeking direct funding from the ARM Committee have found their way to my office. These requests hope to get the nod of approval from this one eommillee, but unfortunately the process is not quite that simple. Many non-programmatic requests fall within the criteria of OHA's Grants Program and are forwarded accordingly to the Grants Division in administration. In February, the trustees will be reviewing

for approval grant requests that have met OHA's grant guidelines and are recommended for approval by the board. The ARM Committee has set its sights on a busy year in 2005. As the Chairperson, I would like to focus on review and update of OHA policies, manuals and our Strategic Plan. If you are interested in receiving our committee's meeting agenda, please eall my office at 594-1879. On a separate note, I would like to remind everyone again about the upcoming Taking Control of Your Diabetes Conference that will be held at the Convention Center in Honolulu on Feb. 12, and at the Kaua'i Marriott Resort on Feb. 13. For additional information, go to: www.tcoyd.org As always, my staff and I invite your comments on the above or any other concerns within our purview. My OHA access numbers are: phone 5941854, fax 594-0210 and e-mail address - dantec@oha.org. A hui hou, mālama pono. ■

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Dante Carpenter Trustee, O'ahu