Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 4, 1 April 1992 — An open letter to our beneficiaries [ARTICLE]

An open letter to our beneficiaries

Trustee Moanikeala Akaka, in her eolumn for this issue of Ka Wai Ola O OHA, raises some points that need to be addressed, if for no other reason than to assure our beneficiaries of a balanced perspective. Trustee Akaka voices several complaints: 1) That she is being restricted in her service to constituents because she is told whieh meetings she may attend and whieh she may not; 2) That she is requested and required to justify her request to attend community meetings to the staff:

3) That administration spends too mueh time monitoring trustee requests to the detriment of being able to hire staff for vacant p>ositions. Although Trustee Akaka talks of meetings whieh she has been restricted from attending, what seems to eome through in her comments is the notion that payment for meetings is the measure of representativeness.

She has never been told that she may not attend community meetings. She has been told that not all of the meetings may be approved for payment of expenses as required by OHA rules, regulations, policies and.by-laws. To suggest that a meeting is of little eoneem because an expenditure of money is not approved or that any such action is tantamount to telling trustees what they may or may not attend is an unfortunate, and incorrect understanding; both in terms of how organizational matters have to

be handled and the perspective of the responsibility that trustees bear to their office. If a trustee believes that an activity is of eoneem to beneficiaries and requires his or her involvement, whether renumeration is allowed should not determine the trustees' participation. Nor should it be inferred that decisions to authorize expenses and compensation are used to control trustees' exercise of what they believe are obligations of office.

We must remain mindful of what are fiduciary responsibility as trustees means. lt means that we have the obligation to preserve and enhanee the assets that are entrusted to our care and to commit them to the best use possible. It means that we must constantly assure ourselves that monies are spent judiciously and prudently, and it means that we are accountable for how trust assets are managed. Any conduct short of that ean raise legitimate eoncerns by those over us — our electorate, the beneficiaries.

Trustee Akaka believes that trustees should be allowed to attend community meetings. We agree 100 percent. But mueh as one might like to be paid for her time and effort, not all activities ean be approved for compensation and expenses. In deciding whieh meetings are compensable, procedures and standards established in the OHA Administrative and Financial Manual of

Guides are relied upon. These procedures and standards were adopted by the trustees in 1988. They define "official business" for whieh expenses may be authorized. The trustees recognized, long ago, the need to be as clear as possible in determining allowable expenses. Implicit in their standards is the acknowledgement that not everything ean be approved for payment. Consequently, a process of selection was created.

The need to adhere to these standards and procedures was highlighted in the legislative auditors' 1990 report on the "Management and Financial Audit of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs." The legislative auditor found that procedures established in the Manual of Guides for documentation of trustees' travel and related expenses were not being followed. The necessary documentation was not filed and explanations for expenses were not in the record. The corrective action was obvious — better enforcement of standards and procedures from everyone, includinq trustees.n

The insistence on adhering to approved procedures is beginning to chafe, and perhaps understandably. Put very simply, trustee requests for official business must be authorized in advance by the chairperson of the board. In doing so, trustees continued on page 20

Open letter /romfMaei9

are asked to provide information regarding the request so that a decision ean be made as to whether it meets the standard of official business.

The OHA administration does not approve trustee requests, but reviews them to assure that ail documentation to support an expenditure of funds is present and justified according to the rules and regulations. lt is an absolutely necessary function. If a request meets the standards, tbe chairperson approves, if it does not, it is disapproved.

As is so often the case, elsewhere as well as in OHA, far more requests involving expenditures are received than ean be accommodated by available means. The approved budget for trustee compensation, travel and per diem for the current fiscal year is $132,886, not enough for an adequate level of service, but not miniscule either. We have already expended that amount and more, and will require alternative measures by the trustees. In our supplementary budget request to the 1992 legislature, we have pointed out a shortfall in this area of approximately $228,000 for the next fiscal year. If unsuccessful in our

request, that estimated shortfall must also be addressed. The fact that the trustees' work has grown substantially over the years is a point well taken and, as Trustee Akaka maintains, is cause for changing the current method of compensating trustees. We have asked the legislature to

approve a more regular form of compensation, one that is not based on meetings attended. While trustee makes some valid points, the bottom line is that when budget overruns occur we collectively need to tighten fiscal spending and assign priority to our activities as appropriate. She is encouraged to attend whatever meetings she feels important.

Chairman Clayton Hee Trustee Abraham 'Aiona Trustee A. Frenchy DeSoto Trustee Louis Hao Trustee Thomas K. Kaulukukui Sr. Trustee Rev. Moses K. Keale Sr. Trustee Kamaki Kanahele Administrator Richard Paglinawan Deputy Administrator Stanley Lum