Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 5, 1 May 1994 — OHA's Education Foundation: setting facts straight and moving on [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA's Education Foundation: setting facts straight and moving on

by Abraham Aiona Vice-chair, OHA Board of Trustees Trustee, Maui & Lāna'i My specific purpose for being on the OHA board is to focus attention on the needs of native Hawaiians and Hawaiians, and to promote programs and projects for "the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians," by demonstrating special

skills that I learned as a professional poliee officer and Chief of Poliee for 29 years, and my nearly 10 years as a eouneilman with the Maui County Council. Other skills were learned while I served my community as a volunteer on several boards and organizations in the social services area. I have not stalled the OHA Education Foundation, as Trustee Akana claims in her Apnl 1994 Ka Wai Ola O OHA eol-

umn. I have searched for an alternative to transferring the full $10 million, knowing full well that if I transfeired these funds, I would be relinquishing my fiduciary duties to a foundation board that was not elected by the Hawaiian people as I was. Let's keep the facts straight:The

Education Foundation has $270,000 of trust funds whieh they are now using. They have a good five-member board and an executive director hired and heading the program. In other words, they have a source of funding and will be able to use earnings from the $10 million in OHA's eommon trust fund. Trustee Akana is known for

her habit of using reports, usually taken out of context, to further her disruptive ways and tactics. Really, one ean review records to see her accomplishments over three and a half years as trustee. At its Mar. 30, 1994 meeting, the Board of Trustees discussed the Education Foundation and its $10 million funding. As I stated in my March 1994 Ka Wai Ola eolumn, that $10 million should be left in the portfolio of the OHA eommon trust fund. Expenses are lower, more money could be available for scholarships and programs, the foundation board could focus attention on spending policies and not try to become money managers. Eventually, the Board passed a motion on a reconsideration action to keep the trust fund monies intact, but approve the funding of the interest ineome, derived on an amount not exceeding $10 million, on an annual basis to be used by the

Education Foundation as follows: • In January eaeh year, the Board of Trustees shall determine the amount of interest ineome based on the immediately preceding year's rate of return multiplied by an amount not exceeding $10 million; • On or before Feb. 1 eaeh year, the Board

of Trustees shall notify the Education Foundation board of the amount of interest ineome available to them for the year; • The Education Foundation board may withdraw any or all of the interest ineome derived at any time during the year by giving the Board of Trustees at least three months prior notice of such a

withdrawal. This provides for interest ineome, generated by the funds, while the pnneipal is held and protected in the OHA eommon trust fund. Trustees must act in accordance with their fiduciary trust obligation. The Board, as a fiduciary, is responsible for assuring that OHA operates in a prudent, diligent, and effective manner on behalf of all the beneficiaries of the trust. (Legislative Auditor's Report # 93-28, December 1993) OHA granted an additional $100,000 in scholarships for Hawaiians in 1992 and 1993. It would be in the best interest of our beneficiaries if Trustee Akana would not take reports, letters and other eommunieations out for dissection and only use brief sentences, comments, etc. out of context for her usual disruptive methods.