Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 5, 1 Mei 1995 — OHA Board Business [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Board Business

Na Kuleana a ka Papa Kahu Waiwai

By Ellen Blomquist Public Information Officer APRIL 6

A special meeting of the board convened at 10

a.m., Apiil 6 in the OHA board room. Chairman Clayton Hee called the meeting to order, all members werc present save Trustees Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i and A. Frenchy DeSoto who were excused. Members present approved the agenda, the minutes of Feb. 23, and the correspondence report from the ehaimian. Community Concerns On behalf of several Big Island fishermen, Herk Freitas and Mike Trask relayed concems to the board regarding mooring of fishing boats in Big Island harbors. According to Freitas, the harbor masters are not assigning the fishermen slips to moor their boats. As a result, the fishermen are aeeumulating numerous citations. Freitas indicated they sought help from OHA with retaining legal counsel. Chairman Clayton Hee assured Freitas and the others that Trustee Samuel L. Kealoha, Jr. would eominue to work with them and that he and/or the OHA administrator and Kealoha would be meeting with Miehael Wilson, the head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, to discuss and resolve the issue. New Business Auditor's Recommendation. Trustee Billie Beamer asked that the status of implementing recommendations from OHA's auditors, Deloitte & Touche, be placed on the agenda until all recommendations were dealt with. Chairman Hee suggested and trustees concurred that the information be put in the administrator's report, whieh is regularly part of the board agenda. Past-due Entitlements. The board agreed 6-1, Akana dissenting, to set aside $500,000 for legal services ffom Fujiyama, Duffy and Fujiyama to continue litigation with regard to the remaining entitlements still owed by the state to OHA, conservatively estimated to be $95 milhon plus interest Hanai'i Housing Authority (HHA). All board members present agreed to retain an attomey from the professional services list being generated by Administration to study the merits of filing a elaim against the State of Hawai'i. HHA for revenues owed from six parcels of ceded land located in Waimānalo (2), Wai'anae-Kai (1), Pālama (1), and Waiākea (2). Unflnished Business 'Aha Pūnana Leo. The board had previously approved a $2.1 million grant to 'Aha Pūnana Leo, Ine. (see Feb. Ka Wai Ola O OHA). Chairman Clayton Hee circulated two versions of an agreement with 'Aha Pūnana Leo (APL) that captured the conditions specified as part of the grant award. One of the conditions was that OHA have right of first refusal on the property, i.e., APL could not sell without OHA's permission; another was that APL repay OHA the grant if the property was soid. The two vereions of the contract were predicated on a sale of the property for more than the grant amount. The version called "Plan A" required that APL pay "imputed interest" (simple interest based on the piime interest rate from the time of contract execution) if the property purchased with the grant was sold. The version called "Plan B" required that APL pay 20 percent of the sale price, on the amount above and beyond the original grant amounl. Staff were asked to generate different scenarios, to see what the possible outcomes would be to APL and to OHA, based on the two different ealeulations. After review of the numbers, the board members present (Trustees Aiona, Akaka, Beamer, Kealoha and Hee) agreed to Plan B (20 percent of the sale amount above and beyond the original grant amounl), subject to final review by legal counsel and OHA's administration to clarify the eontract language and the need for insurance. Announcements Chairman Hee announced that he and Trustee Kealoha would be testifying at a Board of Education meeting that evening against the lottery system for entrance into Hawaiian immersion classes. APRIL 19 Chairman Hee convened a special meeting of the board 4:15 p.m., Apiil 19. In addition to the chairman, Trustees Aiona, Beamer, DeSoto, Kamali'i, and Kealoha were present: Trustees Akana, Akaka and Keale were excused. The agenda, minutes as corrected, and correspondence report from the ehaiiman were approved by all members present. The administrator's report was also accepted by the board. New Business Suit Against DOE. The main focus of the meeting was the chairman's request from the board for authority to file suit against the state Department of Education for insufficient support of and selectivity toward the Hawaiian Immersion Program. "I do not view the DOE as an adversary," Hee told the assembly, "I seek the authority to file suit to eompel them to comp!y with Pubiic Law 101-477 requiring the DOE to avail Hawaiian language to all students in public education." He said the DOE continues to provide • "boilerplate excuses," such as "not enough teachers, space or money." "We must find the will to find a way and a way to work together," Hee said. Trustees Kīna'u Boyd Kamali'i and Billie Beamer both voiced support for Hawaiian Immersion, but expressed concems regarding taking action on a lawsuit that evening, in the absence of sufficient representation from the DOE and background informatipn on the pertinent laws. Hee responded that in a letter dated Apiil 14, he invited the DOE superintendent and BOE and sent out public norices,aI&6o|J|the only DOE representative present was Stan Seki, Deputy Superinten<Ēnt. Hee invited trustees to listen to the ' cmtinuedonpage 15

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testimony provided by the 'Aha Pūnana Leo and Kula Kaiapuni parents and teachers present and to direct questions to them and Seki. Hee also referenced the Long-Range Plan for the Hawaiian Language, a policy document of the DOE, whieh itself cited the state Constitution and federal Pubhc Law 101-477 on the pohcy of the United States to "preserve, protect and promote the rights and freedoms of Native Americans [including Native Hawaiians] to use, practice and develop Native American languages." For several hours, parents and instructors provided impassioned testimony on the Hawaiian Immersion schooling, the efforts they have exerted to work with the DOE, the bonding between parents, the progress of the students, the importance of the schooling to Hawaiians as indigenous people, and the need to take action to eompel the DOE to fully support the program. Dr. Pila Wilson spoke of everyone having the best of intentions, including the DOE, but that everyone was constrained by unfair laws and regulations. He concurred with Hee that the current state of affairs constituted a violation of Hawaiians' civil rights and urged the suit. At the conclusion of the testimony,

all members present voted unanimously that the board's attorney, Sherry Broder, advise them by the next board meeting, April 26, on the merits of filing suit in the case and that they would take aehon, if necessaiy, at that time Competitive Sealed Proposal MethodlPrinting and Mailing of Ka Wai Ola. As chief procurement offīcer, the board must approve any method of procurement different ffom an invitation to bid. The request for proposal method was requested as the method of procuring vendors to print and mail OHA's newspaper, Ka Wai Ola and approved by all board members present. Unfinished Business Attomey Contract: Sherry Broder. As part of the new procurement process, the board solicited interested attomeys to submit their names and qualifications for possible retention as legal counsel for various matters. Submittals for the board attorney were received and evaluated by Administration and a recommendation made to retain Broder as the highest ranked of the interested and qualified attomeys. The board members present approved a one year eontract with Broder, with funds previcontinued on page 19

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ously set aside for pursuing a eomplaint against HFDC, since Broder is the attorney of record on this complaint. OHA v. HFDC. The board had previously agreed to file a eomplaint against the state Housing and Finance Development Corporation to enjoin them from selling ceded land at Leali'i. Board members present agreed to amend the eomplaint by adding the State of Hawai'i as defendant (together with HFDC) and by adding the more general statement "and all other ceded lands" to the specific case at

Leali'i. In this way, the board made it clear that they opposed any state action that would alienate ceded lands wherever they might be and obviated the need to file individual complaints in the future Announcements The board agreed to adopt a resolution commemorating the bicentennial of the Battle of Nu'uanu April 29. Chairman Hee announced the next BOT meeting for April 26. There being no further business, the board adjoumed at 10:30 p.m.