Public testimony can be submitted to the OHA Board of Trustees or its Standing Committees either as: (1) written testimony, or (2) as live, oral testimony online during the Public Testimony portion of the virtual meeting. Public testimony must be limited to matters listed on the meeting agenda.
Persons wishing to provide written testimony on items listed on the agenda should submit testimony via email to [email protected] or via postal mail to Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Attn: Board of Trustees Meeting Testimony, 560 N. Nimitz Hwy., Suite 200, Honolulu, HI 96817.
Testimony is requested to be received at least twenty-four hours prior to the scheduled meeting to allow board members with sufficient time to review the testimony before the meeting.
To assist in the proper routing of your testimony, please include the following information in your testimony:
NOTE: Testimony will be included in the Board’s meeting folder and/or minutes; hence it will be accessible for public viewing. Please do not include personal information (phone number, home address, etc.) that you do not want the public to have access to.
Persons wishing to provide oral testimony online on items listed on the agenda during a meeting held via interactive conference technology (aka a virtual meeting) will need to join the virtual meeting via a unique link provided on each meeting agenda.
To provide oral testimony online, you will need (1) a computer or mobile device to connect to the internet, (2) internet access, (3) a connected microphone to provide oral testimony, and (4) a connected camera to provide video testimony (optional). Oral testimony by phone will not be accepted at this time.
The link to provide oral testimony online will remain open throughout the duration of the meeting.
Oral testimony online will be limited to five (5) minutes or other time limit set by a majority vote of the Trustees.
Persons wishing to provide in-person oral testimony on items listed on the agenda during an in-person meeting or a meeting held via interactive conference technology may do so at the physical meeting location identified on the meeting agenda. Testifiers are requested to sign up to ensure that the testifier is called on to testify when the agenda item(s) is called, but testifiers may also request to testify during the meeting when public testimony on an individual agenda item is called for from meeting attendees.
Oral testimony at the physical meeting location will be limited to five (5) minutes or other time limit set by a majority vote of the Trustees.
The OHA Board and its Committees may list on its agenda an item for Community Concerns and Celebrations. This is optional and not a requirement of Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS), Chapter 92, Public Agency Meetings and Records. Public Testimony is a requirement of HRS Chapter 92 and is limited to matters listed on the meeting agenda; however, Community Concerns and Celebrations would allow the public to provide testimony on matters not listed on the meeting agenda.
If Community Concerns and Celebrations is listed on the agenda, interested persons may submit testimony under this item. The Trustees cannot discuss or respond to matters not listed on the meeting agenda.
Similar to Public Testimony, testimony for Community Concerns and Celebrations can be submitted to the OHA Board of Trustees or its Standing Committees either as: (1) written testimony or (2) as live, oral testimony during the meeting, as detailed above.
Persons wishing to provide written testimony on items listed on the agenda should submit testimony via email to [email protected] or via postal mail to Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Attn: Board of Trustees Meeting Testimony, 560 N. Nimitz Hwy., Suite 200, Honolulu, HI 96817.
Testimony is requested to be received at least twenty-four hours prior to the scheduled meeting to allow board members with sufficient time to review the testimony before the meeting.
To assist in the proper routing of your testimony, please include the following information in your testimony:
NOTE: Testimony will be included in the Board’s meeting folder and/or minutes; hence it will be accessible for public viewing. Please do not include personal information (phone number, home address, etc.) that you do not want the public to have access to.
Persons wishing to provide oral testimony online under Community Concerns during a virtual meeting will need to register first. To provide oral testimony online, you will need (1) a computer or mobile device to connect to the internet, (2) internet access, and (3) a microphone to provide oral testimony. Oral testimony by phone will not be accepted at this time.
Registration links are unique and change for each virtual meeting. Please check the following meeting schedule webpages for the most current registration link:
The registration to provide oral testimony online under Community Concerns will remain open until the Community Concerns section on the agenda has concluded. You will need to register prior to this time if you would like to orally testify. Once the Community Concerns section on the agenda has concluded, oral testimony online will no longer be accepted.
Once you have completed your registration, a confirmation email will be sent to you with a link to join the virtual meeting. Please use this link to join the virtual meeting. Oral testimony online under Community Concerns will be limited to five (5) minutes.
