Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1988 — Guidelines Established on Trust Fund Use [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Guidelines Established on Trust Fund Use

By Moses K. Keale, Sr. Trustee, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau

; Anoai Kakou: I would like to take this opportunity to express my Mahalo to all of you for your continued support and vote of confidence. It is so gratifying to see so many of you went to the polls to exercise your right to vote. Again, I thank you and

urge eaeh of you to continue to support OHA by speaking up and telling us, your elected leaders, what is on your mind. As the Office of Hawaiian Affairs moves into its ninth year of operation, this "infant" is no longer a child. The time has eome to put this house in order and keep it that way. Doing this has been the single most important issue whieh has guided my actions for the 20 months that I served as chairman of the Board and this will eonhnue to be my guide. We, the trustees and you and I, must move cautiously within the parameters of the law to provide the best possib!e solutions for the greatest number of beneficiaries. As you know, in July of this year I requested an

investigation as to whether special funds derived from the Public Land Trust could properly be expended to advocate a change in existing law to create a single definition of the term "Native Hawaiian." As a result the Attorney General of the State of Hawai'i has recommended the following corrective actions be implemented as guidelines in dealing with this question: 1. That the single definition portion of the Myers contract ($23,200 - for media/advertising) be paid solely by General Funds. 2. If no General Funds are available to pay the current advertising contract with Myers, OHA should seek General Funds at the next Legislature to pay this contract retroactively. 3. The Attorney General further recommends that if OHA is to pursue the single definition issue, OHA is to seek General Funds appropriation from the Legislature in the future. 4. Where the subject of single definition is involved, care should be taken to insure trust funds are not used. 5. Closer attention should be paid to all OHA activities where subject of the single definition is involved. It is apparent from the results of this report that seeking legal advice should be made a part and parcel of policy making, including the establish-

ment of procedures and the implementation of actions. Requesting legal advice should be the standard of OHA and not the exception. Neither this body of trustees nor any individual trustee should be denied access to counsel when he or she feels legal advice is necessary to carry a trust responsibility to protect its beneficiaries. As stated in the report I am bound to exercise care and diligence in carrying out my fiduciary duties within the confines of the law. It is the obligation of the Trustees as a group, and as individually elected officials, to do the same. I take this opportunity to thank Attorney General Warren Pnee and Governor John Waihee for the prompt and in-depth report entitled "Expenditure of Native Hawaiian Public Trust Funds by the Trustees of the Office Of Hawaiian Affairs." I thank the many individuals, Hawaiiansand Hawaiians at heart, from Hawai'i to Ni'ihau, who prepared and signed the petitions in support of my actions. And finally I thank eaeh and every one of you for your patience, care and understanding in the process of resolving this matter. Now, with these guidelines clearly established we ean proceed with serving you the beneficiaries. A i manao kekahi e lilo i pookela i waena o oukou, e pono no e lilo ia i kauwa na oukou.