MAI KA LUNA HO'OKELE - FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR

Community Consultation Network
to help engage Hawaiians in conversation

Clyde Nāmu'o, OHA Adminstrator

In 1897, a group of women traveled across Hawai'i to hold discussions within the Hawaiian community on the subject of the annexation of Hawai'i by the United States.

What came about from those meetings were the Kū'ē Petitions signed by thousands of Hawaiians who opposed annexation.

More than a century later, we at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs look to the spirit that carried those women from home-to-home in their quest to seek the mana'o of the Hawaiian community.

OHA has numerous methods that we use to communicate with beneficiaries and the public – newspaper, radio, television and the Internet.

And what we are learning is that when we combine the use of these tools, outreach to the community becomes even more effective.

On Oct. 23, during a keynote speech at the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Convention on Kaua'i, I announced a new initiative that OHA will be undertaking to communicate and consult with the Hawaiian community on almost any topic.

The Community Consultation Network, or CCN, will incorporate the use of the following:

• Ka Wai Ola, OHA's monthly newspaper with plans to expand to an additional electronic edition mid-month.

• Nā 'Ōiwi 'Ōlino, OHA's radio show, which can be heard statewide.

• Ho'oulu Lāhui Aloha, OHA's community television show.

• OHA.org, OHA's web site.

• Pacific Network TV, a web-based television network created by filmmaker Edgy Lee and underwritten by OHA.

The reason we are calling this a network is because we will be using all media at our disposal to get the word out about these community conversations.

Earlier this year, OHA trustees and staff traveled across the state to educate beneficiaries and the public about the settlement proposal with the state over past-due revenue from the Public Land Trust.

During these community meetings and subsequent legislative hearings, we heard from beneficiaries loud and clear – come and talk with us early on.

We are listening, and this initiative is a big step in doing just that.

With the Kau Inoa registry nearing 100,000 names, the first use of the CCN network will be to hold a conversation with the Hawaiian community over nation-building.

It is time for us to extend the conversation to allow community members to tell us what they believe are the next steps in nation-building. It is an attempt to reach people in their homes or at community halls so they can candidly tell us what is on their minds.

To accomplish this, one of the tools we plan to use is videoconferencing so that we can have conversations with Hawaiians across Hawai'i and the continental U.S.

This could be at the OHA boardroom, a living room in Southern California, a meeting room in Dallas or a meeting at the Anahola community center on Kaua'i.

The purpose is to gather as much information as possible in an economical fashion. We simply can't afford to fly people all over the United States and it's becoming increasingly expensive to fly people to the neighbor islands.

OHA will also provide the equipment to groups wanting to host videoconferencing meetings. OHA's web site and other media will provide information on the meetings and collect comments from the meetings.

We are also producing a 12-minute DVD to set up the background for the nation-building discussion. We hope to partner with other Hawaiian organizations like the civic clubs to also carry on these discussions.

At the civic club convention, we set up a demonstration of how this videoconferencing meeting might work. Our communications network was in full swing to publicize the demonstration of this initiative: You are reading about it here in Ka Wai Ola, I did a radio interview on Nā 'Ōiwi 'Ōlino prior to my speech, and the radio show aired my convention speech live as I was making the announcement.

During the demonstration, we had a group of OHA staff members at OHA's offices role play a meeting while I stood at the podium at the convention about 100 miles away.

We conversed, asked and answered questions and exchanged ideas – as we hope to do with the community in the near future.