Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 6, 1 June 2014 — Legislative wrap-up and the OHA primary election [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Legislative wrap-up and the OHA primary election

/A no'ai kakou ... We / \ were deeply disap- /^\ pointed with the state Legislature / \this year when they failed to pass Senate Bill 3122, whieh would have allowed residential development on three of OHA's Kaka'ako Makai properties. SB 3122 would have added significant value to our properties and provided mueh needed revenue for our Nation. Because of opposition from

the "Save Our Kakaako" groups, the state House, led by Representative Scott Saiki, killed our bill. OHA wanted to increase our building height limit in order to allow for more middle-income condos. Ourplan was to build a Hawaiian sense of plaee and eommunity allowing for open space and ease of access to the waterfront. However, the Save Our Kakaako groups fought against our plan, saying that they were against the building of any kind of housing. What they didn't understand was that, under the present law, OHA could exceed its height limitations if we built "commereial" buildings. By developing commercial buildings, OHA's footprint across its Kaka'ako lands would be larger and it would not leave enough open space for any kind of community access. It is tragic when members of certain groups are allowed to inlluenee decisions that will affect millions of people in a very negative way for many generations to eome. Why is it that vocal minorities always seem to prevail over the majority of folks? In any case, OHA will now proceed with the development of a Master Plan for our Kaka'ako lands. On another note - OHA primary For the first time in OHA's 30-year history, the general public will get to vote in a primary election for OHA Trustees. Since more than seven candidates have signed up for the three seats in the At-Large OHA race (as of late April), we will need to have an OHA primary election to bring that number down to six for the general election. Candidates running for OHA

seats will now have to spend a lot more money to win their statewide elections. Permanent absentee voting I encourage all OHA voters to consider permanent absentee voting, whieh allows registered voters to receive their ballots by mail permanently for future eleetions. As a permanent absentee mail voter, you will no longer have to apply for future eleetions. A ballot will automatically

be mailed to you for eaeh election in whieh you are eligible to vote. How do I request to vote by permanent absentee ballot? You must be a registered voter in order to receive your absentee ballots permanently. Applications for permanent absentee ballots (known as the "Wikiwiki Voter Registration & Permanent Absentee" form) are available at the following loeations: • City/County Clerk's Offices • Hawaii State Libraries • Office of Election's website: www.hawaii.gov/elections • Satellite City Halls • U.S. Post Offices Submit your completed application directly to the Office of your City/County Clerk no later than seven days before the election. Permanent absentee applications will be accepted until: 2014 Primary Election: Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014 2014 General Election: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 If you have any questions, please eall the Office of Elections at (808) 453-VOTE (8683). Aloha Ke Akua. ■

Interested in Hawaiian issues and OHA? Please visit my website at www.rowena akana.org for more information or email me at rowenaa@oha.org.

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Editor's note: In accordance with an Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board ofTrustees policy based on state ethics guidelines, any trustee runningfor re-election is suspendedfrom publishing his or her regular eolumn until the elections are complete, e.xceptfor those trustees running unopposed, Trustee PeterApo hasfiled nominaiion papers for re-election and as a result, his eolumn is suspended pending the ouleome ofthe election.

Rnwena Akana TrustEE, At-largE