Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 9, 1 September 2016 — Bring back the Land Committee [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Bring back the Land Committee

/ A no'ai kakou... By * / \ the time you read this ^^\ article you will have /^^^ voted in the Primary / \Election. I

hope you took my advice and voted for new people. Let me tell you why this is important, especially in the OHA races. About a year ago, at the urging of the current Board Chair, two committees were collapsed into one. The Budget Committee and the Land Committee heeame the Committee on Resource Management

chaired by Trustee Colette Machado. The excuse was to save time and effort, but the real reason was to consolidate power. Since that time very little, if anything, has happened in the new combined committee. Trustees have received little or no information on our land negotiations. For instance: • MAUNA KEA: On May 26, 20 15, Govemor David Ige announced that he asked UH, whieh subleases the Mauna Kea summit area from the state, to make ten changes to improve its stewardship of Mauna Kea. One of the changes included UH voluntarily returning to the state more than 10,000 acres that are not specifically needed for astronomy. I believe UH should tum the lands over to OHA, since all 1 1,300 acres of land within the Mauna Kea Scienee Reserve are puhlie land trust lands classified under section 5(b) of the Admissions Act. What better solution could there be than to put Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands? OHA has now put the State and UH on notice that we are considering legal aehon against both. • KAKA'AKO MAKAI: In 2012, when OHA received Kaka'ako lands in our settlement with the State over past-due ceded

land revenues, none of us knew that the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), whieh has jurisdiction over development in the area, planned to lease the

harbor īn Kaka ako. OHA has been negotiating with the HCDA to get them to compromise on their plans to put "finger piers" in front of our Fisherman's Wharf property. • LEGISLATIVE THREATS: Earlier in the year, the legislature tried to pass a "forced land sales" bills. If HB 1635 and HB 2173 had become

law, developers could use it to force Hawai'i's landowners to sell leasehold lands to their lessees. Kamehameha Schools led the charge against the legislation since nearly 80 percent of their commereial properties are leased. Also, our ceded lands controlled by DLNR could have been threatened and it would have also hurt the ability of Native Hawaiian organizations and trusts to fulfill their missions. No matter what explanation is given for all of the missed opportunities that OHA has had this past year to fulfill its mission, it all comes down to leadership and the laek of it. To top all of this off, a five to four vote is hardly a vote of confidence to hire back an OHA Administrator who many Trustees feel lacks the business and eeonomie development experience to move OHA forward in the black eolumn instead of the steady red. These are the reasons OHA needs a breath of fresh air. VOTE FOR CHANGE. IMUA! ■ Interested in Hawaiian issues & OHA? Please visit my website atwww. rowenaakana.org for more information or e-mail me at rowenaa @ oha.org.

Rūwena Akana Trustee, At-large