Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 11, 1 November 1992 — OHA Trustee's Views [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Trustee's Views

Ka mana 'o o na Kahu Waiwai pakahi

(This eolumn is open to all OHA trustees to express their individual views and does not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA board of trustees.)

Entit!ements - they belong to you

by the Rev. Moses K. Keale, Sr. Trustee, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau These are tough times for all of us. Last month I issued a challenge to everyone to

speaK loudiy and clearly that we, the native sons and daughters of this land, want our full entitlements. Do you remember my question last month? "Does

all this really matter?" And do you remember my answer? ",...the total entitlements compensation would approach $30 million yearly.... if you factor in the back payments for rents for these lands the total back rent could exceed $300 million!" Yes, it does make a great deal of differenee! I remember all too well how OHA began 12 years ago. We, the nine trustees, were told to run an agency to better the conditions of the Hawaiian people. They said we were entitled to do this on a budget of $225,000 of public matching funds supplemented by our entitlements ineome. With the expectation of the people high and the money minimal, it was a struggle to keep our heads above water. For many years there was very little change in our ineome stream. Between 1981 and 1989 OHA's annual operating ineome from special and general funds amounted to an average of $2,066,000 per year. The most significant changes in public funding eame in fiscal year 1988 when the Legislature almost tripled our general funding level. This was aeeomplished under the guiding hands of then Administrator Kamaki Kanahele, now an accomplished trustee. Our biggest break, though, eame in 1990 when agreements were reached with tbe Govemor's office on the proper entitlement amount. This was a quantum leap in revenue amounting to more than $8 million annually. Now, under these eonditions, we could really function. Now, we could really implement a large portion of the master plan. We conducted public hearings to revise the functional plan and the Board met to implement new policies and procedures. We hired a new administrator and at his request we reorganized the office. In fact, based on his recommendation, we requested that the Legislature change the Hawaii Revised Statutes to allow the administrator to employ all personnel without obtaining the approval of the Board as was the previous practice. Then, we asked him to draft and to implement a plan that would carry out the major objectives of the master plan and would incorporate the new functional action items. This was a bold new experiment for us whieh reflected our ability to use the newly obtained resources. The trustees had done their job in obtaining the revenue stream and now it was up to administration to provide programs to impact the beneficiaries. It was our hope that you, the Hawaiian people, would finally begin to feel the impact of new programs to service your needs.

Well, the experiment has been a failure! Certainly, three years is adequate time to evaluate the impact of the new products. In reviewing all of our present initiatives, and after eliminating the ongoing projects whieh began prior to the reorganization (such as: The Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund, 'Aha 'Opio O OHA, 'Aha Kupuna, educational tutorial programs, the embryo of our self-help housing program, and our ongoing health initiatives), it seems our new programs have fallen far short of the mark. Administration proposed a revolutionary program called "I Luna A'e," a 7-point initiative, designed to address concerns and provide services where services were needed. Included in this 7-point initiative were: Operation Ea, designed to address restitution from the federal govemment; Operation Ka Po'e, otherwise known as the single definition mandate; Operation 'Ohana, targeted to gain data on all Hawaiians to effectuate a better system for the delivery of services and benefits to every Hawaiian; Operation Malama Mau, created to address the need to identify and protect our cultural heritage and cultural assets; Operation 'Alohi. a program designed to enhanee our communications system in order to keep our beneficiaries informed of our wcrk;

Operation Hui 'Imi, a task force of Hawaiian agencies created to coordinate services to lessen duplication and overlapping of strategies; Operation Ho'okuleana, designed to effectuate full entitlements from the state government. After extensive review, I find that the foUowing is true: Operation Ea, whieh began with the publishing of the "Blueprint for Native Hawaiian Entitlements" and other promises of securing restitution, has produced three pieces of proposed federal legislation. One of these draft biUs is seriously flawed, another is presumptuous and the third needs input from the affected beneficiary class. No formal hearings have been held on these documents and the pubUc input process has been limited. Operation Ka Po'e reflects serious flaws in thinking. Less than half of the Hawaiians over the age of 18 actually received ballots. Of those who received the ballots only 38 percent retumed them. Therefore, the 19,000-plus Hawaiians voting in favor of this initiative represented only 16 percent of the estimated 125,000 adult Hawaiians residing in the state. It was not the overwhelming voice of the Hawaiian people that spoke up for a single definition, it was only a select few. Operation 'Ohana was one of the most

noteworthy programs in concept. The goal, as articulated by the administration, was to enroll 150,000 Hawaiians by 1990. It is now 1992 and the latest report indicates that less than 10,000 Hawaiians have completed the enrollment process. Operation Malama Mau has met many of its objectives. The Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council has been diligent in its work and has achieved notable progress in the area of cultural preservation and protection of sites and practices. Operation 'Alohi has finally begun to make limited inroads toward a eommiiment to eommunieale with the beneficiaries. After nearly three years of failures and large expenditures of funds, the program has finally begun to move toward its target goals thanks to the efforts of the new pubUc information officer. Operation Hui 'Imi has been operational and has met with success. Coordination of program and program services among the agencies and organizations servicing Hawaiians has improved. Operation Ho'okuleana also has been successful. But this success ean be directly attributable to work by the trustees who have been in direct control of the process from the beginning. There is srill mueh to be done and the tnistees are eontinuing to work directly with the governor'soffice. Looking at the picture as a whole, I find that while we have spent large sums of monies, expended an enormous amount of staff time, and committed a great deal of offīce resources toward the efforts of the I Luna A'e program, the success ratio is dismal. Of the seven initiatives, three of the most costly programs have been failures, one could not meet its targeted objective because of severe understaffing, and one was taken over by the trustees with outside help hired to complete the task. Of the two remaining program initiatives, Operation Malama Mau's product has been tainted because of administrative misdirection while Operation Hui 'Imi appears to be self-sustaining. It is time for us to take a hard look at whether our resources are being directed in an efficient manner. The bottom line is whether vou are receiving the benefits that we have mandated the office to deliver. Ultimately, it is the duty of the nine trustees to evaluate the progress and determine whether the woiie of this office is acceptable. Our focus should now tum toward building the best "delivery of service program" that we ean muster. To this end I have always pledged my energies. To this end my effOTts will be concentrated. Although we must not lose sight of gaining full entitlements for the Hawaiian people, it is time to concentrate on the delivery of these entitlements to the people. Although this may require tough and unpleasant decisions, that is the nature of position of leadership to whieh eaeh of us is elected! Imua e no 'ohana, a inu i ka wai 'awa'awa! A i mana'o kekahi e lilo i po'okela i waena o 'oukou, e pono no e lilo 'ia i kauwa na 'oukou. Na ke Akua e malama a e alaka'i 'ia kakou apau.

Ke aloha o ke Akua me kakou apau, Please allow me to send this special message to all of tbose wbo have suffered and are suffering from the effects of Humeane 'Iniki. When I got up on Saturday, tbe day after Hunieane 'Iniki, and surveyed tbe de vastat ion that nature brought. m v heart was saddened and my body ached. Everywhere I looked the damage was stunning. Some people made it through while otbers lost everything. The Lord saved our home and kept my family safe, so we immediately began to help those less fortunate. I mobilized my family and opened our bome to anyone who needed help. Tbe activities were heelie. There was so mueh need. I wanted to do so mueh more but without being aware of my immediate surroundings, I did not realize that I was also a hunieane casualty. An injury that I suffered during the height of the storm worsened and infection set in. On Wednesday, following the $toim, I was fk>wn to the hospital m Honoluiu where I was kept for more than two weeks. Although 1 am mueh better and able to get about, doctors have kept me from retuming to Kaua'i. However, I have been busy coordinating efforts to provide needed relief with our Honoiulu office. It is during times like this that I am reminded of our most basic Hawaiian cultural values. Vaiues that bave sustained our people for centuries. Values that have set us apart £rom other people and their cultures. Values that will strengthen us for our future. We are rerainded of the six important key words of our culturai values — Ke

Akua, mana; lokahi; 'ohana; po'okela; ho'omau; and koho 'ia. We must be thankful to Ke Akua for his protection, wisdom and mana. And tfaen we must turn to eaeh other for strength, unity and lokahi. 1 1 is the 'ohana that possesses the ability to rebuild and re-establish tbe whole. It is our practice of po'okela that will bring exce!lence in everything we do in order to make this plaee even better than it was before. īt is because we wish to eoniinue and desire to support eaeh other that we shall ho'omau — grow and prosper. And finally koho 'ia na keiki o Hawai'i! We are of one family, ali of us, no matter what eolw, race, or religion. koho 'ia because you are cbosen and must choo.se to be a part of everyone. Set aside the disappointments, the harsh words, tbe hurt, the feeling of loss, the emotions of despair. Help eaeh other overcome our individual griefs. There are no mdividuals ju$t one 'ohana! Our office in Lihu'e is open for those on Kaua'i who need help. It is staffed by workers from our offices on the neighbor islands. Be patient with them if they cannot answer your questions immediately. 1 have been assured that they will eome througb. For those affected on O'ahu, especially those who were hit the hardest, contact our Honolulu office for assistance. In fact, anyone needing help shouid eall tbe office closest to you and assistance will be given. Rebuilding will not happen overnighL The scars will take time to heal but be comforted in the knowledge tbat we have eaeh other to lean on. Mahalo!