Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 12, 1 December 2000 — Let's work to restore faith in OHA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Let's work to restore faith in OHA

ALOHA KĀKOU. I would like to introduce myself to you, as your newly elected trastee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. I was born Oct. 8, 1931. My mother was Hawaiian and my father, Caucasian. My mother died when I was two-years-old. I

was raised by my tutu kāne and tūtū wahine in Hau'ula. I graduated from the Kamehameha School for Boys in 1950. 1 was an apprentice at Hawaiian Electric Company in 1949 while at Kamehameha, and worked there until 1951. 1 served in the United States Marine Corps from 1951-1954, and after being discharged, I attended the University of Hawai'i under the G.I. bill and graduated in 1958.

My work history is as follows: 19581972, property manager, The Estate of James Campbell; 1972-1974, vice president of development, Grosvenor International; 1974-1990, chief executive offi-

cer, senior adviser to the trastees, The Estate of James Campbell; 1990-1999, trastee, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate (resigned 1999); 2000 - present, vice president, American Land Co. Currently, I serve on several business boards such as Hawaiian Electric Indus-

tnes, Hawai 1 Tax rree | Trast, Cash Assets Trast, Pacific Capital Funds and Grace Pacific. I also serve on a number of non-profit boards whieh include Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Helping Hands Hawai'i, 'Iolani : Palaee, Hawai'i Tax foundation, Mutual Housing I Association of Hawai 'i, I Pacific Housing AssociaI tion, Sutter Heahh Pacific (Kahi Mōhala), 'Iolani I School, SAC/US Civic I Rights Commission, and f others. At the urging of many, I committed mvself to seek

election to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and was elected Nov. 7. You may ask why I would do this at this stage of my life after having gone through a very emotional and agonizing

experience with the reformation of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate. If there is one thing that I have learned from that experience, it is that the fate and future of our Hawaiian children, and our Hawaiian community in general, lies in the hands of organizations like the Bishop Estate, OHA and Alu Like, as well as other ali'i trasts. All of these organizations need to work together because they are now the only hope for the salvation of our Hawai-

lan people. If there was ever a time that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs needs to focus on resolving the many issues facing our Hawaiian community, that time is now. With the ceded lands issue unresolved, with the confusion surrounding

the Rice vs. Cayetano decision, with the continuous debates over sovereignty, with the current challenges to our Hawaiian entitlements, and more importantly, with the continuing neglect of the needs of our people, now is the time to focus on

the work that needs to be done. The course of OHA needs to be set so that we as Hawaiians, ean again be a proud people. Īhe perception of the general public, as well as many Hawaiians, is that OHA is dysfunctional, and has not met the expectations of its mission. Many feel that something has to be done to restore the faith in OHA of all

Hawanans and the larger community. Onee that is accomplished, OHA will meet its purpose and mission. I am not presumptuous in knowing the answer to these issues. I don't presume to know the "fix" either. But I am certainly willing to bring all the experience I have gained over these many years of my life to make every effort to restore the faith of

our Hawaiian community in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. I want to thank all those who have placed their trast in me to serve as a trastee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Me ke aloha pumehana. ■

If there was ever a time that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs needs to focus on resolving the many issues facing our Hawaiian eommunity, that time is now.

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