Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 11, 1 November 1985 — Moving Forward [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Moving Forward

By Louis Hao Trustee, Molokai

It was a little over a year ago that I was appointed to serve as trustee from the Island of Molokai when that position heeame vacant. A few months later, 1 was elected to a full four-year term during the regular election. I have spent this last year listening, learning and doing my best to encourage poli-

cies of a positive and productive nature. With your permission, I would like to share some random thoughts with you in this, my first contribution to the Trustees' Views eolumn. In evaluating my efforts during this past year as one of your nine trustees, I re-read an interview our newspaperpublished after my appointment in September, 1984. I was quoted as saying: "The most pressing single need is to find a way to work together in a spirit of trust and cooperation. We have to go back to day one and agree that our goal is to better the conditions of Hawaiians. Then we've got to make sure we don't lose sight of that goal by going off on unproductive tangents." I think that the Board of Trustees has been moving in that direction. Certainly there have been disagreements . . and sometimes our meetings get more than a little heated. But 1 feel that we are learning to respect eaeh others' views and convictions without necessarily agreeing with them. More importantly, I think we are able to deal with the concerns of eaeh Trustee in a manner whieh allows us to move forward and accomplish the purposes for whieh we were elected. During the past year, for instance, the Board adopted a Community Grants policy and awarded 39 individual grants in the areas of Health and Human Resources, Eeonomie Development, Culture, Education and Land and Natural Resources. Although OHA was able to appropriate a total of $225,000 for these grants, more than $2 million in grant requests were submitted by applicants. Many of the unfunded grant proposals were worthy projects, but we are forced to work within a very limited budget. In addition to the grants program, another positive project was the $50,000 in graduate level scholarships awarded to native Hawaiians seeking advanced degrees in colleges and universities.

1 hese are only two of the areas m whieh OHA has created programs of direct benefit to the Hawaiian people. However, the scope of such programs is severly restricted because funds to whieh OHA is entitled (ceded land ineome from airports and harbors) have been withheld by the state. Therefore, I was particularly pleased by the decision of Judge Edwin Honda last August affirming OHA's right to take legal action in order to force the State to comply with legislation eoneeming OHA's entitlement to ceded land ineome. The Office recently has developed a slide presentation whieh I fee! gives an excel!ent overview of some of the projects and programs with whieh OHA has been associated. The slide show is being presented at community meetings throughout the state. Special showings for groups or organizations ean be arranged by contacting individual Trustees or any OHA office. Finally, in the spirit of encouraging the "Together We Can" philosophy among Hawaiians, I would like to recognize the accomplishments of one Noble K. Noah of Honolulu. Perhaps you read the article about him in the Sunday, Oct. 13, newspaper. Noah, a "pure blooded native Hawaiian" is recipient of Hawaii's Minority Small Business Person of the Year Award by the U.S. Small Business Administration. An electrician by trade, Noah over the years held a series of jobs and was the victim of periodic layoffs. In a last ditch effort to achieve eeonomie self-sufficiency , Noah obtained his electrical contractors license and started his own business, NN Electric Company, in 1978. Seven years later, through hard work and determination, Noah has built his business to a leve! where hisannual revenues exceed $1.5 million. Today he enrploys 17 people. I congratulate my fellow Hawaiian, not only for his personal success, but for showing us all that with the proper motivafion and a little encouragement, Hawaiians ean assume their rightful plaee in the business community. One of OHA's jobs is to create a climate in whieh our beneficiaries ean become self sufficient. That is why it is so :mportant for us to pursue our full entitlement to the ceded land revenues. Only with adequate funding ean OHA achieve its aim of "bettering the conditions of Hawaiians."