LEO 'ELELE - TRUSTEE MESSAGES

Colette Y. Machado
Trustee, Moloka'i and Lāna'i

Aloha kākou! The 2007 Legislature addressed a few issues of particular interest to Native Hawaiians. Of the bills that passed in the OHA package, additional funds to Alu Like Inc. and Nā Pua No'eau were our biggest gains. Funding enables OHA to provide additional services to our beneficiaries. Specifically, Alu Like Inc. provides essential social services, community economic development, business assistance, employment preparation, training, library services, and educational and childcare services. The Nā Pua No'eau program nurtures leadership qualities in native Hawaiian children and offers educational programs that better prepare Hawaiian youth for the future. In addition, OHA supported to increase the safety and effectiveness of dams and reservoirs to prevent future dam failures in the wake of the Ka Loko dam tragedy.

OHA also supported a resolution that requested the Auditor to conduct a study of the Hawaiian Education Program which would, hopefully, address allegations of the mismanagement of funds allocated for Hawaiian studies programs and underpayment or inappropriate use of kūpuna.

Act 212 sponsored by our Hawaiian Caucus establishes an eight-member 'Aha Kiole Advisory Committee. The governor has appointed members from a list of individuals nominated by the Association of Hawaiian Civil Clubs (AHCC). This committee is temporary and will research and facilitate the creation of a permanent Commission. The committee is tasked with establishing: an administrative structure for the 'Aha Moku system, which shall consist of eight 'Aha Kiole members (one representing each island); standard eligibility criteria and a selection process for members and an executive director; the council's goals, objectives and benchmarks; and an operational budget to support the council's objectives and functions.

Most controversial was the special session on the Hawai'i Superferry, which divided many in our community and set precedence for our EIS laws. Hawai'i's environmental review process strives to create a balanced decision-making arena for developers and managing agencies: balancing development/economic needs with environmental/health needs. OHA is one of two agencies mandated to review such applications. As OHA's member to the Superferry advisory task force, I hope to share my perspective that all of the existing and potential harbor improvements are on State, ceded and public trust lands and that major impacts on those lands should require legitimate and complete environmental and cultural review.

With the New Year approaching, OHA's 2008 legislative package will carry over bills from 2007. These include representation on advisory boards and commissions, tuition waivers, Hawaiian Immersion School funding and a Hawaiian Cultural Center which would also house the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Last November, OHA hosted a think tank to assist and develop new ideas for 2008. We will be asking the Legislature to help us protect our assets through the formation of limited liability corporations. We hope to establish a Ha'iku¯ valley cultural preserve commission, which shall have policy and management oversight of Ha'iku¯ valley. We hope to protect our foster keiki by giving preference to their 'ohana and to establish a student loan forgiveness program to provide health care to underserved areas of the state.

While we anticipate positive changes in Congress, we look forward to a productive session here at home in our state Legislature. OHA will remind Legislators, local and national, of their duty to put in high priority and ultimately resolve Native Hawaiian issues.

The Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment Committee will start a weekly meeting schedule to review legislative measures that impact the Native Hawaiian community. Meetings are open to the public and generally held every Wednesday at 10 a.m. For more information please call 594-1888.