Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 7, 1 July 1995 — OHA Trustee's Views [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Trustee's Views

Ka mana 'o o nā Kahu Waiwai pākahi

(This eolumn is open to all OHA trustees to express their individual views and does not necessarily represent the official position of the Board of Trustees. Since these are individual opinions, OHA does not take responsibility for their factual accuracy.)

by Billie Beamer Trustee-at-large "There shall he an Office of Hawaiian Affairs constituted as a body corporate that shall be a separate entity independent of the { state } executive branch." TIME TO ASSESS Has OHA become a bloated administrative hierarchy, spending more on staff than on the beneficiaries? This is what we Board members are now asking ourselves. After 15 years of growth,

the juncture calls for OHA to: evaluate its decision-making accountability, identify wasteful program expenditures and focus its efforts to reach more beneficiaries. The legislature, the Board, the Administration and the Beneficiaries may have been operating on automatic without stopping to assess its productivity. TIME TO ASSERT To be accountable, OHA must: determine its own priorities, make its own mistakes and be answerable to the beneficiaries. Our statutory charge is to constantly repair, rebuild or reinforce the efforts of those before us to

establish a foundation of integrity for a subsequent sovereign entity. HRS 10-4 PROVIDES, that, "THE TRUSTEES WILL DETERMINE THE MANNER IN WHICH EXPENDITURES SHALL ALLOWED AND PAID." We, the elected trustees, are ultimately accountable, not the legislature, or the appointed staff.

A PARADOX OF OUR OWN DOING The 18th Legislature again stipulated, in HB 1780 (budget bill), that OHA'S Heallh and Human Services Division (HHS) shall fund two programs. The intrusive stipulation was recommended by OHA'S Administration, approved by OHA'S Board of Trustees and supported by OHA'S legislative

lobbying team. The Bill dictated that Alu Like will receive S598,000 and $80,000 for the Waianae Diet Program, earmarked 88% of OHA'S HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES BUDGET. The 12 % or $91,768 remainder covers salaries, maintenance and travel expenses. HHS' 2.5 positions were thus relegated to become highly paid 'Bank Tellers' left to disburse the quarterly draw-down checks to Alu Like and the WDP. No funding remained for real needs, i.e., a 4-6 chair dialysis facility for Molokai, 18 chairs for Waimea, assisting our handicapped, etc.The proviso skirted OHA'S master plan and flew in the face of priorities identified by beneficiaries calling for attention to Health, Housing and Education. RECOGNIZING THE need to regroup and redefine its operational procedures special deliberative HHS BOT committee meetings have been ongoing. In revisiting our mission we found that: $189,000,000 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS ALONE WAS APPROPRIATED FOR HAWAIIAN NEEDS FROM 1982 TO 1993!!!!. And, in this Federal money bag AL received $109 million.

Also, s i n e e ™ 19 9 1, OHA has augmented the "AL" Federal windfall with disbursements totaliing $2,975,000. WDP, a new player in '92 has received $480,000. AND WHERE HAS THE MONEY GONE?

We deducted that too few of these dollars filtered to the needy. Instead a massive highly paid Hawaiian Bureaucratic Network seemed to be preaching to the choir (talking to themselves), in workshops, studies, and conventions. Slick charts, glib talk, covered by unaudited financial reports, left the needy wanting and waiting.

By perpetuating a potent political bureaucracy, we were eroding OHA'S SOVEREIGN responsibility. We then asserted that funding for beneficiary programs, is OHA'S authority. A special meeting was held on June 7. Trustee DeSoto moved that the alloeahon to AL and the WDP be diminished by 50%. Trustee Akaka seconded the motion. There were six trustees present, DeSoto, Akaka, Keale, Kealoha, Akana and Beamer, all cot*cuired. The matching share of $169,000 would revert to OHA'S trust to fund BOT priorities. The recommendation must be passed by the full Board after review by Budget and Finance. * Trust fund is money received from cededland revenues. NEXT MONTH, THE ATTTTUDE THAT HAWAIIANS SHOULD NOT SUPPORT OHA BECAUSE IT IS STATE FUNDED! DOES ANY ASPIRING SOVEREIGN ENTITY HAVE THE FUNDING TO DO WHAT OHA CAN DO IN PREPARATION? TUNE IN TO CHANNEL 22, WEDNESDAYS 2:00 TO 3:00 OR FRĪDAYS FROM 7:30 TO 8:30.

HHS BUDGET STATE "A" OHA "B" TOTAL PERCENMatching Trust Fund HHS TAGE Funds Match BUDGET IIK 1780 382,891 384,877 767,768 100% ALU LIKE 298,000 298.000 596,000 78% WAIANAE 40,000 40,000 80,000 10% OHA HHS 44,891 46,877 91,768 12% 2.5 POSITION'S FOR ALLOTTED SALARIES, ETC. PROPOSAL AT JUNE 7TH HHS COMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS 50% CUT 149,000 149,000 298,000 298,000 ALL LIKE STATE OHA DUE SHARE SHARE ALU LIKE BALANCE 149,000 149,000 298,000 149,000 IN REMAIN. lapses to to OHA TOTAL RETAINED AFTER CUT STATE TRUST CUT BY OHA 50% CUT 20,000 20,000 40,000 40,000 WAI DIET STATE OHA DUE WDP BALANCE 20,000 20,000 40,000 - 20,000 J IN BUDGET lapse to to OHA TOTAL RETAINED S STATE TRUST CUT BY OHA TOTAL 169,000 169,000 IS MADE AVAILABLE IN THE