Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 June 2007 — Mahalo pihapiha [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mahalo pihapiha

Rūbert K. Lindsey, Jr. TrustEE, Hawai'i

On behalf of my family and myself, I want to extend our deepest and sincerest appreciation to my fellow trustees for their unanimous support of my nomination and to the OHA 'ohana for a most warm and joyous weleome. I want to thank particularly Trustees Boyd Mossman and Oswald Stender for their trust and confidence in my abilities and for encouraging me to "stay in the race." I want to aeknowledge their staff as well: Lei-Ann Durant, Melissa Beimes and Kira Lee, as well as my new secretary, Tiona Wailehua, for helping me get through my first month of service without a glitch. And to all who wrote letters supporting my candidacy, mahalo pihapiha. The one promise I make at the onset is this: I will do my best to make a positive and thoughtful eontribution to OHA in the time remaining on Trustee Linda Dela Cruz's second term. Some have asked about the future. The future for me is now, and I want to remain in the now, i.e. settle in and do a good job for our people during the next 18 months. Part of being in the now is staff selection. That task has been eompleted. Tiona Wailehua, who many of you already know, as she was Trustee Dela Cuz's secretary, will remain in that position. Jeremy "Kama" Hopkins will be my aide. I am fortu-

nate to have two team members who have a passion for our mission and a tremendous sense of duty and service to our people. Linked to our Honolulu office are our Hilo and Kona satellite offices. Lukela Ruddle and Gladys Brigham continue to serve in East Hawai'i. Ruby McDonald and Dawn Tanimoto continue to help us in West Hawai'i. Another part of being in the now is communication and feedback. We want to hear from you on any topic and any issue at any time. Please eall us at 594-1882. Or email us at robertl@oha.org, tionaw@oha.org or jeremyh@oha.org. If it's easier, phone Hilo at 808-920-6418 or Kona at 808-327-9525. Whatever your topic or issue, we will provide you feedback. During the months to eome, I will launeh a series of articles featuring the many good things people, individually or collectively, are doing across Hawai'i Island to better the conditions for us all. If you know of someone or group you would like us to feature, please let us know. Many have told me this is a good time to be at OHA because, as an organization, OHA has matured, stabilized and "eome of age." This did not just happen. It took hard work, clear and critical thinking and "blood, sweat and tears" on the part of this Board, our administrator and staff, as well as past Boards, administrators and staff, to get us to where we are today. I feel very blessed and humbled to be a small part of our OHA 'ohana. This is a great time to be at OHA and to be of service to our people. Ho'oulu Lāhui Aloha. □

LEO 'ELELE ■ TRUSTEE MESSAGES -