Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 3, 1 March 1994 — We do not need an elected elections board for sovereignty! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

We do not need an elected elections board for sovereignty!

by Moanike'ala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i Last summer, Governor Waihe'e appointed a Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory

Commission (SAC) to devise a plebiscite question asking the Hawaiian people, "Should there be a Hawaiian sovereign nation? Shall a Hawaiian Congress be gathered to create a constitution to be ratified by the

Hawaiian people? Yes, or No?" In my August 1994 eolumn, I pointed out that there would be rough waters ahead with a gov-ernor-appointed SAC. The months since have indeed been rough waters for this second SAC. First, Ka Lāhui Hawai'i refused to participate because the commission was governorappointed. In January, Bumpy

Kanahele ('Ohana Council) dropped out because the SAC was not open to ideas of Francis Boyle, an intemational law professor who feels Hawaiians

should have an inde- ! ! pendent nation. In November 1993 and this January the ; SAC held island- | wide meetings to get input from ! Hawaiians. Concem again: commission is govemor-appoint-ed. On Feb. 5, a meeting was held by ■ the SAC at the

Hikon Hawaiian Village. Over 200 people attended, representing an astonishing 100 Hawaiian organizations. Ka Lāhui people attended as did members of the 'Ohana Council. Presented were two bills now in the Legislature: House Bill (HB) 3630 and its eompanion, Senate Bill (SB) 3153 relating to sovereignty and the election of an Election Board to continue

the work of the SAC. The present SAC has until August to create the plebiscite question and the election process for delegates to our Hawaiian constitutional convention, and to report to the Legislature this session. The SAC members initiated this bill in response to the eommunity eoneem about being gov-ernor-appointed. The elected board would replace them and their function. Though I was against the gov-ernor-appointed SAC, I have strong reservations and concerns about House Bill 3630 and question why the present commission was funded at $400,000 — half from the Legislature and half from OHA funds — and can't complete their task before August 1994. These bills would transfer all responsibilities of the SAC to the Elections Board. This proposed Elections Board would cost between $1.8 to $2.2 million, possibly more. It's difficult to support such an

expenditure to duplicate what is presently the responsibility of the SAC, in view of the many Hawaiian programs that need funding. OHA should not and cannot be mandated by the Legislature (according to the just-released Legislative Reference Bureau audit) to squander precious money on an elected Elections Board we do not need! The second bill discussed was HB 3629 and its eompanion, SB 3300, whieh calls for a moratorium on the disposition, sale and loss of ceded lands by the state and counties, except for lands transferred to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and OHA for the Hawaiian people. This is a positive bill. OHA attempted to negotiate this moratorium with the state between 1988-90. There is genuine fear in the Hawaiian community that ceded lands could be depleted before the sovereign Hawaiian nation becomes re-established. Participants at the conference

divided into four discussion groups. Three recommended no support for the Elections Board bill; all groups supported the moratorium on ceded lands. There was agreement on the need for more educational programs so we may make informed decisions about sovereignty. In our journey and approach to nationhood, we must weigh democratic processes vs. bureaucratic entanglements — an impediment to our goals and a danger we must avoid. Remember, Hawaiians are trying to evolve back into a sovereign state. One important eoncern: the degree of U.S. affiliation. We are at a creative stage of this process, whieh implies input — some good, some not. Within our differences, we must find eommon ground, allowing us to determine our own destiny as a credible sovereign Hawaiian nation. Mālama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono.