Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 8, 1 August 2011 — Great questions! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Great questions!

GEOTHERMAL AT WAO KELE OPUNA My July eolumn advocated for geothermal as a way to free

Hawai'i Island from our addiction to oil during this time of peak oil when supply is diminishing, demand increasing, gas prices skyrocketing, cost of goods and services escalating. Four folks took the time to eall me about Wao Kele O Puna, whieh I truly appreciate. Unless we ask questions and express concerns about an issue or topic we care passionately about, the

kepalō (bad spirits) will be having "good fun" in the rafters at our expense, the aloha we have for eaeh other will be lost and our credibility compromised. The question is this: "If you support geothermal are you promoting geothermal at Wao Kele O Puna? When OHA got the kuleana it agreed, 'no geothermal.' " The answer is, "No, I am not promoting geothermal at Wao Kele O Puna." Well before I eame to OHA, the Board had agreed upon taking possession of Wao Kele O Puna that the existing geothermal well would be dismantled and its geothermal subzone status removed. The Deed of Transfer to OH A is clear - future geothermal exploration and development is not allowed. My personal position: I will not compromise OHA's credibility. A past Board made a promise; "A promise made is a promise kept." The well has been deactivated so that part of OHA's commitment is pau. Lifting the geothermal subzone status remains a "work in progress." As a sidebar, to assure that we fulfill our obligations to this special plaee and meet our promises to you we now have an OHA Land Manager assigned to Wao Kele O Puna. He is Cheyenne Hiapo Perry. Cheyenne has a great feel for the land and for our people and within him tremendous scholarship and leadership based on experience, education and intuition. With his help a community driven

process is moving forward to develop a plan for the area. Something we ean all look forward to.

KEAUKAHA SCHOOL CAFETERIA "What is going on with our full-service convenlional cafeteria for Keaukaha School?" This has been an exercise in ahonui (patience) for 20 years. Many have been and are continuing to work very hard to make our full-ser-vice conventional cafeteria a reality. At the community level, I want to aeknowl-

edge Kumu Lehua Veincent (Principal), Unele Pat Kahawaiola'a, Mapuana Waipa, Luana Kawelu and Lukela Ruddle (OHA CRC-East Hawai'i). At the poliheal level, I want to acknowledge former Sen. Dwight īakamine, current Sen. Malama Solomon, Rep. Jerry Chang and Gov. Neil Abercrombie for their kōkua. Several sessions ago Senator īakamine was able to get us all the funding needed for Planning & Design, Construction & Personnel for a full-service conventional cafeteria. We have been rebuffed time and again by the DOE, BOE and the Lingle Administration but we holomua. The DOE relented in 2010 saying, "Okay Keaukaha you ean have your cafeteria but it will have a 'serving kitchen,' not a 'full-service kitchen' because the legislation approving the funding did not say we have to build a full-service conventional cafeteria." In a nutshell what this means is the meals for our keiki will be prepared at a cafeteria at another school and brought to Keaukaha. During the 2011 session with help from Representative Chang and Senator Solomon, "legislative intent" for a full-service conventional cafeteria for Keaukaha was clarified via a budget proviso. Now that "legislative intent" has been clearly established, when we meet with the DOE folks about our cafeteria in August there should be "no clouds" in their sky. Should there be ... Auē nō ho'i ē! ■

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