Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 8, 1 August 2010 — SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

By Trustee S. Haunani Apoliona, MSW and Clyde Nāmu'o, Chief Executive Officer

n the July KWO Trustee Rowena Akana used Trustee eolumn spaee of 1,800 words to malign, with erroneous statements, Trustees Stender, Maehado and Apoliona, CEO Nāmu'o and our hardworking and dedieated OHA staff. Akana insulted the Board by eritieizing the funding of speeifie programs fully aware that by poliey Grant requests over $25,000 must be approved by the majority vote of the Board of Trustees. Additionally, she inferred that Trustees are not aetively performing their duties as eleeted representatives. These elaims made by Akana fail to aeknowledge her own deplorable reeord of attendanee at Board of Trustees and bi-weekly committee meetings. Any inquiry into Akana's actual attendance at puhlie meetings for the past few years will show her shocking record of absences. Because OHA's files contain copies of memos and documents, whieh provide the unadulterated facts, we will not publish an extensive response. However, afterremaining silent on the numerous occasions in whieh Akana has made erroneous claims against the OHA Chairperson and others as well as the good work of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in her Trustee columns, it is time to take this one occasion to "set the record straight" on the following issues:

TRAVEL T0 WASHINGTON, D.C. As Board Chairperson, I was invited by the coordinating group to speak at the King Kamehameha I Lei Draping ceremonies on June 6, 2010, in D.C. and I accepted. Akana was the only Trustee who requested travel to D.C. for that occasion. Other Trustees, who would like to have gone, agreed by eonsensus to limit their out-of-state travel and instead attend their loeal King Kamehameha celebration events. OHA provided funds for a post-Lei Draping reception in recognition of the volunteer coordination by the Hawai'i State Society of Washington, D.C., of the various related activities involved in this national recognition for Kamehameha I and in respect for Native Hawaiian Civic and Cultural Leaders who had traveled to D.C. to participate. Akana, who chose to travel to D.C. in a "personal capacity" (not subsidized by OHA) attended the reception, ate the food, danced and sang for the crowd, and invited her own guest to the reception. In a followup June memo to Trustees and staff, Akana nevertheless criticized OHA's support for the post-Lei Draping reception. Since 2003 OHA has had a Washington Bureau office in Washington, D.C., to help coordinate OHA's federal endeavors with federal agencies and elected officials in D.C. By law, OHA's CEO has primary responsibility for the administration and operations of OHA. Thus, on June 4-8, by separate arrangement, OHA's CEO and key administrators attended scheduled meetings with federal agencies in D.C. These regular meetings between OHA administration and the administration and operational representatives at federal agencies occur routinely. As operational meetings, they are intended for the administration only, not the Board.

However, by memo to me as Chairperson, the CEO requested that I attend the June 4-8 scheduled meetings. Lace-to-face meetings that coordinate OHA's operations with those of appropriate federal agencies in order to effectuate Board policies are necessary and proper staff functions. Akana's article erroneously implies that such meetings without her presence were wrong. ŪENIAL 0F GIIC TRAVEL All travel must only be for OHA "official business." In the case of Trustees, under OHA Bylaws and Policy, the Board Chairperson is the only one who authorizes any out-of-state travel for Trustees. The Governors Interstate Indian Council (GIIC) is comprised of members appointed by the Governor of eaeh State; and in Hawai'i's case, "appointed by the Governor and/or the Chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board." GIIC By-Laws require an official letter, whieh specifies that the state's representative has been authorized specific "rights and privileges." Akana refused to provide the required documentation and was denied approval for out-of-state travel to GIIC in 2008. As recently as July 2010, Akana tried onee again to obtain OHA trust funds to pay her out-of-state travel to the GIIC. As in 2008, Akana was asked to provide a copy of the official letter of appointment to GIIC in accordance with its By-Laws. No documentation was provided. In my recent meeting with the Governor's office it was confirmed for me that their office has no record of appointment of Akana to represent Hawai'i, in accordance with GIIC Bylaws. Needless to say, as in 2008, Akana's request to use Trust funds for GIIC travel in 2010 is being denied for the same reasons. DUE DILIGENCE G0LDMAN SACHS MEETING Trustees Machado, Stender and Apoliona were the last of eight Trustees who accepted an invitation to attend a Goldman Sachs due diligence meeting in New York. The iniīial plan to link the meeting in New York with Trustees remaining in Hawai'i was encouraged by these three Trustees, but after wrestling with technical details and unrealistic logistics the plans were canceled. This decision was based upon OHA legal counsel's advisory pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 92-3.5 ("Meeting by videoconference"). When Goldman staff was advised that they would need to make their offices in New York open and available to the general puhlie, (consistent with this HRS) they advised that as a general practice they do not allow the puhlie into due diligence meetings. The 250-page due diligence report from Goldman Sachs is

on file at OHA. B0ARD W0RKSH0PS īelephone conference calls may be used by Trustees who are unahle to be physically present at a BOT meeting or workshop to listen in on OHA puhlie meetings. The law advises that an absent Trustee may not speak, comment or raise questions, nor ean he or she vote unless he or she is physically present or present via a videoconference as provided by law. This statute applies to all BOT puhlie meeting telephone call-ins whether or not a vote is taken. Listening in on the phone does not constitute attendance and is not recorded as such. OHA is required to and does follow the law. TW0 VS. FIVE B0ARD COMMITTEES OHA changed the number of BOT eommittees from five to two for good reasons. Akana wishes to return to five committees so that more Trustees ean be Chairs of committees consisting of 3 to 5 members. Committee decisions could be made by as few as three votes. Also, additional OHA staff would be needed to cover matters before the five committees. Beneficiaries who have issues of interest before eaeh of five committees would need to attend 2 to 5 meetings on separate days to testify for or against a measure before the matter could be decided at a BOT meeting. Think of the inefficiency, costs and laek of timeliness that would result. Think of the expense to neighbor islanders of travel costs and work loss. Instead, the present two Board Standing Committees chaired by Trustees Stender and Machado consist of all nine Trustees members who attend to eommittee business issues during morning and afternoon meetings on the same day. With full and free discussion at the committee level, the Committees recommend action to the Board. The decision-making at the Board meetings is timely and matters of business do not languish. Board meetings, whieh occur two times a month, are usually completed in 2-3 hours. Thereafter, staff, Trustees and beneficiaries are free to do other relevant business. The current two-committee system is efficient, effective and accessible for beneficiaries. ADMINISTRATIVE RELATED MATTERS Statements related to OHA's budget need to be corrected and put into proper perspective. OHA's budget for LY 10 was approximately $42.107M. Live years ago, the budget was $31.5M and not $23M as stated in Trustee Akana's eolumn. It should also be noted that the current fiscal year's budget (LY 11) is $2M less than it was for the prior year.

www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

OHA has evolved into a corporation whose business is mandated by law to improve eonditions for Native Hawaiians. The Board of Trustees embarked on a new direction and adopted a 6 year Strategic Plan that focuses its limited resources on roles of advocacy, research and asset management to produce measurable results that improve the lives of Native Hawaiians. In order to sharpen our focus, strengthen our role and execute this plan, the agency restructured from 3 divisions, whieh included 7 different programs, down to 4 lines of businesses and sought highly skilled people to lead and facilitate this change. The implieahon by Akana that OHA is now too top heavy is hereby addressed. OHA conducted a hnaneial analysis of its management positions from FY09 to FY10 and the results are contrary to what was implied. The analysis showed that the total number of management positions actually decreased from 36 down to 26. The salary savings for the Executive Office, Line of Business Directors, and Program Managers were approximately $78,600, $408,000 and $39,000 respectively. Management salary costs actually dropped by $526,000. Between FY09 and FY10, OHA's total payroll declined by nearly three quarter million dollars.

Trustee Akana's assertion that only $1.4 million was spent on beneficiary programs is completely false. The amount of monies OHA invests in the Native Hawaiian eommunity through various programs, activities and events, is actually 10 times that amount. In FY09, OHA invested more than $13 million in programs and activities to support the Native Hawaiian community through its various grant programs. The fiscal year after that, OHA invested over $16 million. Over the years, OHA has provided over $61 million for programs and projects for the benefit of its beneficiaries. Even in these austere times, OHA continues to make its grants program a top priority. Trustee Akana's statement related to the transfer of $421,300 in education grant money to fund a Continent Community Education programin Hi'ilei Aloha LLC deserves some clarification. While the Administration did make a request for that amount in our budget realignment it was NOT from monies appropriated for education grants, but rather from special funds. We believe it is important for everyone to know that this Administration did not try to shift monies away from educational funds and ultimately this proposal was not approved by the Board of Trustees.

The monies were intended for an important education campaign effort related to the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act commonly known as the "Akaka bill." People need to know what the bill is about and why it's important. With the passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act ("Akaka bill") possibly by the end of this year, it's imperative that Hawaiians residing both here and across the continent be informed and engaged. NATIVE HAWAIIAN HIST0RIC PRESERVATION C0UNCIL (NHHPC) The NHHPC serves as an advisory group to the BOT through the BAE Committee Chaired by Trustee Machado. During the over 25 years since NHHPC was constituted, it has been reorganized several times after evaluating outcomes. Currently, NHHPC is being evaluated again in relation to its role in the new OHA Strategic Plan. Decision-making is pending a report and due deliberations. SUMMARY As Chairperson of the OHA Board of Trustees, I am blessed to be working with Trustees who have worked cohesively as a team on behalf of Native Hawaiian benefi-

ciaries. I am proud to have served with them for 14 years. It is the intent of OHA and its elected Trustees to operate as an 'ohana and positively support eaeh other's efforts. In deliberations on issues there may be differences of opinion expressed and that is good. However, when a majority vote is taken by the Board of Trustees, the decision becomes the Board of Trustees' policy. All Trustees are expected to support the action of the majority. I take offense at one Trustee, whose meeting attendance is very spotty, making irresponsible, erroneous, disparaging and destructive statements against all who eomprise the OHA 'ohana. Also, her statements indirectly insult the Native Hawaiian community and all citizens who voted in the OHA elections for the sitting Trustees. I am certain future KWO issues and OHA's network of information venues will better inform you of OHA's positive impact and productivity achieved over these last nine years for Native Hawaiians and all Hawai'i nei. Holomua kākou. ■

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