Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 1988 — OHA Board Business [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Board Business

By Ed Miehelman Public Information Officer The OHA Board of Trustees held its regular monthly meeting on September 30, 1988 in the Honolulu office board room. All nine Trustees were present. Action was taken by the Board on the following agenda items. Request for Legal Opinions The Board unanimously adopted on final reading a recommendation from the Committee on Operations and Development to amend the OHA By-laws and the Policy and Procedure Manual. These changes will require prior Board approval before requests for an Attorney General opinion or opinion from any other legal counsel ean be solicited by the Chair or Administrator. Kamani Trees Subdivision MOA The Board authorized the OHA Chairman to act as signatory on behalf of OHA to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) whieh will insure "culturally-appropriate treatment of Native Hawaiian human remains" at the Kamani Trees Subdivision in Kailua-Kona. Trustees Burgess and DeSoto voted "kanalua" (abstained). Referendum Ballot The content and form of OHA's referendum ballot were approved. The referendum is designed to determine OHA voter opinion on whether OHA ceded land trust benefits should be available to all Hawaiians without regard to blood quantum. Currently only those with 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood may benefit. TTie ballot will be mailed to all OHA registered voters and must bear a return postmark no later thain midnight November 8, 1988. In addition to the question about a single beneficiary class, a second question will ask, "Are you 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood?" The ballot will be similar in appearance to the regular state election ballot. T ext will be printed in black ink on a white background with a pale green image of the Hawaiian Islands on the ballot itself and a pale green image of the OHA logo on the ballot stub. The ballot was adopted on a 8 to 1 vote. Trustee Keale voted "no." Ad Hoe Committee on Ceded Land Entitlements Budget This item was approved at the Board meeting of August 30, 1988, but a eheek of tapes and notes of the Operations and Development Committee •revealed that because of a procedural oversight, the budget was not officially adopted in committee. The Committee rectified that error on September 19, 1988. The Board re-adopted the $72,000 budget with Trustee Keale voting "no." MOA for Burial Treatment Plan at West Loeh The OHA Chairman was authorized to act as signatory for this agreement, designed to insure respectful, dignified and sensitive treatment of Native Hawaiian remains unearthed during eonstruction of the West Loeh Estates Subdivision on O'ahu. Approval was unanimous. Election of OHA Vice Chair Trustee Kevin "Chubby" Mahoe was elected OHA Vice Chair, on a 7-2 vote. Mahoe was nominated by Trustee Akaka. Trustee Burgess, the only other candidate, was nominated by Trustee DeSoto. The Vice Chairmanship became vacant when Vice Chairman Louis Hao became Chairman on August 30th. Next Board Meeting The October board meeting was set for Saturday, October 29th at Kalaupapa, Moloka'i. The preceding day, Friday, October 29th, a community meeting was scheduled for Kalaupapa residents.

While the population of Hawaiians sharply declined after 1 778, the numbers of Hawaiian people as a whole are on the rise.

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