Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 8, 1 August 1998 — Chairperson's message [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Chairperson's message

How good is our team? N JUNE, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan called the United States' current eeonomie condition the best in his 50-year career. Greenspan cited an unusual amount of uncertainty from the continuing turmoil in Asia. "but so far," he said, "the American eeonomie expansion, now in its eighth year. has not

oeen threatened. tireenspan noted that even with unemployment falling to the lowest level in 28 years, and growth spurting ahead at a 4.8 percent rate in the first quarter, inflation had actually declined this year. He called the eomhination of strong growth and low unemployment "extraordinary." Unfortunately, that good news is not for Hawai'i. Eightyearsoflittleorno growth ranks us almost last of the 50 states by every eeonomie indicator. Employment, construction, and state and loeal govemment spending, programs and services have been reduced. The trim in

goveramental expenditures has placed more demands on OHA. We receive an increasing number of funding requests and must address the creation of new programs or expansion of OHAservices. TTiestate'seconomy alsothreatens OHA's revenue stream; the Native Hawaiian share of ceded land revenue has changed from 20 percent to a flat $15.1 million and the slump has produced judicial and legislative challenges we ean not ignore. Hawai'i's financial environment has magnified OHA's workload tremendously and increased the importance of a team approach to getting our important work done. One example of this was the extraordinary effort whieh went into formulation and passage of the OHA Budget for FY 1998-99. Early this year, our nine operating divisions developed a "trust only" budget proposal for FY 1998-99, to supplement the legislature's 1997 general fund appropriations. The division proposals were consolidated into two comprehensive documents: the "Proposed Operating Budget for FY 1998-99" and its associated "Justification Work-

sheets." The.se documents were distributed with- : in OHA before the first budget review meeting of the Committee on Budget and Finance. As we moved into that meeting for open discussion and interaction between board and staff, it became apparent that the review was going to be tedious. The administration and staff were repeatedly asked by one or two trustees to justify and defend new pro-

grams or services by providing extensive cost projections, estimated numbers to be served and anticipated results. In addition, the actual and forecast expenses. used to justify the requested funds for ongoing programs. had to be updated in midprocess. The mind-set of the inquisitors seemed to be not what OHA needs to do to meet the current needs of its beneficiaries but what OHA should do in light of the state's poor fiscal condition. My appmaeh. as usual. was fairly straight forward. Despite the state's

poor eeonomie condition, I know that both DHHL and OHA have more money than ever before. I believe we are able to offer more services and programs than ever before and we should position ourselves to do that. But I ean not do that alone. So it is imperative the members of our OHA team communicate with one another. That is the only way we will win, no matter what we are doing. Andthatis just what happened. We got through the budget process because members of the OHA team pulled together. Trustees and staff alike spent countless hours obtaining answers to the numerous questions asked and providing documentation. For a job well done, I congratulate Trustee Machado, the members of her Budget and Finance team and the division officers who spent hours justifying their proposals and eompiling the extensive data requested. I look forward to continued teamwork like this to ensure success as we move through 1998 and into 1999 and beyond. ■ i

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TRUSTEE MESSAGES

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