Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 2, 1 February 1998 — OHA on hold: spending plenty with nothing happening [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA on hold: spending plenty with nothing happening

ĪHE CHAL LENGES continue, as the new leadership struggles to carry out its agenda. Since the change in leadership over three months ago, the new majority attempted an ambitious agenda focused at quickening the decision making process, improving the flow of benefits to our beneficiaries

and propelling the so-called lumbering agency they inherited. More power to them if it serves our Hawaiian beneficiaries. For business to be conducted at OHA, a majority of five members (a quorum) must be present before any decision ean be made. Usually, a meeting is not convened without the quorum. In November and December, twenty eommittee and Board of Trustees meetings were scheduled; ten of those were canceled. Of the twentyt . meetings scheduled, four were for the full board, but only two took plaee. In one case, a special board meeting was convened at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel. This meeting was held in executive session, wi#f®iit a quorum, in violation of the State statutes and at an ♦ •

expense of $13,000, and still counting, to our beneficiaries. The unfortunate hospitalization of Trustee Beamer has dampened the spirit of the new majority by denying them the critical vote needed to push their agenda through, unscathed. While her illness is unfortunate, fate has placed the new majority in the same position as the former leadership. Unfortunately, Beamer's absence has determined whether or not meetings are held. The major impact of Mrs. Beamer's absence is that, without her, the new

majority does not have the five votes it needs to pass its agenda. The new chairperson appears unwilling to hold a board meeting when she lacks a majority vote. With eight trustees available to attend board meetings, the question from the beneficiaries to the new chairperson should be, "Why aren't board meetings being held and why isn't business at OHA being eonducted?" Can this inactivity be in the best interest of the beneficiaries? Since October, more than $1.2 million in funding has been approved by the Board of Trustees. Has this funding directly benefitted our Hawaiian beneficiaries? The accompanying pie chart shows that only 15 percent of this funding directly benefitted our beneficiaries, while almost 85 percent went to internal expenditures. In previous articles, I argued the inappropriateness of some of this funding given the current context, and I still question whether we are being fiduciarily responsible. It just seems that we are being irresponsible in how we spend our money. Essentially, the OHA Board of Trustees is at a stalemate with four votes on eaeh side. Yet, an opportunity for open discussion exists in this stalemate. Perhaps ho'oponopono or dispute resolution is possible. The reality is that OHA is not moving forward as the new majority hoped it would. When we look at the numbers, we ean see that under present conditions OHA will not make any quick progress. Perhaps it's time for the new leadership to do as they promised: be inclusive, begin to work with other trustees to break the stalemate and look at old-time Hawaiian remedies like ho'oponopono to move OHA forward in unity. ■

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