Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 11, 1 November 2001 — Spend trust dollars for a healthy future [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Spend trust dollars for a healthy future

OHA has gone through many interesting changes these past few months. None has been more shocking than the Hawai'i Supreme Court decision to invalidate Act 304 and the seating of Trustee Clayton Hee as OHA's chairman. Beneficiaries are now demanding trustees to "do the right thing." Their stories are blunt and remind us that we need to spend our Trust funds on worthy, long-term programs for Hawaiians. To put things in context, OHA's chairman proposes to fund an "emergency employment" program. The proposal suggests that OHA could give the State Department of Labor $2.8 million of Trust Fund dollars so that the department ean allocate it to agencies and non-prof-its to provide temporary jobs for six months. Though the proposal sounds niee, the underlying motive appears more poIitically motivated. The eeonomie emergency affecting Hawaiians is complex and longstanding. It is not defined by the events of Sept. 1 1 - only worsened! Offering band-aid measures such as the "emergency recovery employment program," fails to address the

deep wounds already affecting the community.

The unemployment rate of Hawaiians is already higher than the state and national averages. Foreclosures, homelessness, laek of credit worthiness, inadequate health care and education are not new experiences. OHA has an opportunity to meaningfully improve the quality of life for Hawaiians in a !asting way. lf it is worth doing, then we should do it right and not limit our spending to a measly $2.8 million. lnitiatives that are top down, that create more bureaucracy and

administrative expense, that are temporary, and that will not stimulate long-term growth are dead ends. Such programs may offer excellent photo opportunity and public relations for the agency, but they will do little to improve the lives of our people. Furthermore, if OHA is truly interested in assisting Hawaiians, then we should allow the community to determine its own needs and priorities. How is it that OHA could propose a short-term program that would sink millions of dollars into a "black hole" that does not directly serve native Hawaiians while more proven and worthy long-term programs that directly benefit our ' people and culture are ignored? OHA's plan should be to effectuate long-term benefits for our native Hawaiian people. OHA should spend monies for programs that need the help. Some suggestions are: 1. Fund pending OHA projects such as community development projects, educational projects and health related initiatives. 2. Consider backing mortgages or bonds and possibly extending

collateral on a larger scale. 3. Take this opportunity to think outside of the box. If, as it is believed, investment spending will follow, then OHA would be wise to start investing in its own eommunity. Spur infrastructure development, seed education, invest in Hawaiian-owned businesses (help them start up), and offer health care relief. Perhaps it's time to invest in responsibly run loeal Hawaiian companies. 4. Other considerations include grants to non-profits, direct payments to Hawaiians in the form of dividend checks, infrastructure development, business relief, extending unemployment insurance support, "genius" grants to invest in cultural and political awareness, developing training programs that ean actually have meaning for the future Hawaiian nation. To envision and develop meaningful programs that will impact the Hawaiian community, dollars will not be enough. We need awareness and understanding, too. The value of such an approach will have broader impact than a typical "temporary job" now being proposed. ■

The eeonomie emergency affecting Hawaiians is complex and longstanding. It is not defined by the events of Sept. 1 1 - only worsened!

Colette Machado

Trustee, Moloka'i and Lana'i