Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 2, 1 February 2014 — The OHA elections 2014 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The OHA elections 2014

hy should you care ahout who leads OHA? Everyone is eligible to

vote for OHA Trustees and I

encourage all to vote - not just Hawaiians. Hopefully, you would cast an informed vote. Between OHA and the three largest Hawaiian eeonomie institutions lies tremendous eeonomie eapaeity of billions in cash assets and thousands of acres of land. The Hawaiian community has arrived at a plaee of staggering capacity. There is no doubt that Hawaiians will have a profound impact on the direction and quality of the growth

of these islands. So, it is important to note that OHA, joined by other leading Hawaiian institutions, will be at the center of the vortex of 21 st Century Hawai'i. If you care about where the ship of state is headed, you should care about who is at the wheel. Voting for OHA Trustees OHA is led by a nine-member Board of Trustees who are elected to office for fouryear terms in a statewide general eleehon. Of the nine seats, four are at-large and the remaining five seats are specific to eaeh island of Moloka'i and Lāna'i, O'ahu, Hawai'i Island, Kaua'i, and Maui. Although these five seats are specific to an island, the candidates are elected by a statewide vote. The nine seats are subject to staggered terms so every two years some of the incumbent Trustees face re-election. In 2014 five seats will be up for election to include the Maui, O'ahu and three At-Large seats. Flash! New law! OHA elections subject to a primary election The 2014 eleehon will be the first time that OHA Trustee candidates will be subject to a primary eleehon. Previously, because OHA Trustees are nonpartisan, a primary was deemed unnecessary. However, the 2013 state Legislature mandated that OHA elections be subject to a primary

to narrow the field of candidates, followed by a general election to elect a winner. For the island-specific Trustees of Maui,

Moloka'i-Lāna'i, Kaua'i, O'ahu, and Hawai'i Island, the top two candidates surviving the primary would then face off in a general election. It gets tricky though with the At-Large candidates where you have multiple candidates. Let me try and simplify here. For the 20 14 elections, three of the five seats are up for eleehon. So, the top six candidates to make it through the primary will then face off in a general eleehon and the top three will earn a Trustee seat.

OHA issues The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) was created by Hawai'i's 1978 Constitutional Convention for the specific purpose of providing for a native Hawaiian leadership structure to navigate the difficult poliheal process of reconciliation addressing the loss of Hawaiian sovereignty with the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by a eoup d'etat of American businessmen in 1893. The 120 years of abiding tension between the general Hawaiian community and the state and federal government begs poliheal closure and OHA is mandated to address the sometimes-volatile tapestry of issues. One major goal of OHA is to facilitate a process that will lead to the formation of a new governing entity that would succeed OHA. We are working on this now. Another important OHA responsibility is to manage puhlie policy development at both state and federal levels on issues that affect Hawaiians. The Office also deals with quality-of-life issues for its Hawaiian beneficiaries such as heahh care, home ownership, education, employment, business opportunities and others. If you care about the future of Hawai'i, it is important for you to vote in the OHA eleehon. ■

For more, please go to www.Peter Apo.com.

PetEr Apo TrustEE, O'ahu