Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 6, 1 June 2001 — Your input helps OHA with its Master Plan [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Your input helps OHA with its Master Plan

Donald Cataluna Vice Chair, Trustee, Kaua'i anel Ni'ihau

£ £ "W" "W"o'oulu Lāhui Aloha: 1—1 To Raise a Beloved .A. ANation" was adopted as the official vision statement for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on May 3 by the Board of Trustees. To fulfill this Vision the Board also adopted the following Mission statement: "To mālama Hawai'i's people and environmental resources and OHA's assets toward ensuring the perpetuation of the culture, enhancement of lifestyle and the protection of entitlements of Native

Hawaiians, while enabling the building of a strong and healthy Hawaiian people and Nation, recognized nationally and internationally." Both the vision and mission statements are OHA's response and commitment to its constitutional and statutory mandates. Developed after a period of three months, beginning Feb. 5, these actions by the Board of Trustees are the result of five strategic planning workshops. Trustees identified needs of Hawaiian beneficiaries, the

community and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, agreed on short and long-term priorities and, thus, completed the first important phase of the strategic planning process. The next critical step in the process calls for review of Trustee's priorities by the community and the gathering of comments. Participants are being provided with an overview of OHA's planning and budgetary process, asked to prioritize Trustee's short and long-term priorities, and encouraged to offer additional priorities for consideration. Seven community meetings have already been held in Honolulu, Kāne'ohe, Mililani, Wai'anae, Waialua, Kapolei, Waimanālo and at the Center for Hawaiian Studies, U. H. Manoa. Neighbor island community meetings are scheduled to take plaee this month (see schedule on page 1). Thus far, community participant and tmstee priorities have been clustered into seven distinct categories. They are: 1) Advocacy, 2) Board of Trustees, 3) Culture, 4) Eeonomie Development, 5) Education, 6) Social Services and 7) Other.

The continuing planning process is being facilitated by Annelle Amaral, consultant, and coordinated by a "core group," whose members are Trustee John Waihee IV, Policy and Planning committee chair; Julian Ako of Kamehameha Schools, Myron Pinky Thompson, Rona Rodenhurst, administrative staff (by area of responsibility) and myself. The Core Group will serve as the link between the community, staff and the Board of Trustees, providing periodic progress reports and submitting recommendations for Board approval and action. The core group, itself, has no decision-mak-ing authority. A major part of our work lies ahead, with strategies, goals, objectives and timelines yet to be determined. This entire strategic planning process is expected to be eomplete with the formulation of a new Master Plan for the office of Hawaiian Affairs by Dec. 31. We invite you to become a part of this significant pieee of work. ■

"D o o £ Q 3 C eo o < o.

At a community meeting in Waimūnalo last month, 30 communlfy members assited OHA by rcrting trustee priorities, and listing their own. This month, neighbor island residents will do the same, vital to the development of OHA's Master Plan.