Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 5, 1 Mei 1997 — Hee, reelected chair of OHA board, revamps key committees, sets goals [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hee, reelected chair of OHA board, revamps key committees, sets goals

Following an impassioned speech in whieh he declared "eeonomie

autonomy — that's how you spell freedom," Clayton Hee was reelected chairman of the OHA Board of Trustees last month. The meeting, April 8, also saw new Trustees Colette Machado and Hannah Springer sworn in about 150 days after they were elected. (A court challenge held up the swearing-in.) For the first time since the November eleetion, OHA was operating with a full board of voting members. Later in April, Hee proposed substantial changes to the board's committees structures whieh appear, at least in part, aimed to break the factionalism on the board. The board voted to support the changes, and the new committees are now in plaee. (See box with Hee's committee assignments, page 6.) ^ v ^

nee wearnerea a enailenge to his leadership in a 6-3 vote on April 8, defeating Haunani Apoliona, a newly elected trustee. The vote split between new and old members of the board. Hee was supported by Trustees Abraham Aiona, Rowena Akana, Billie Beamer, A. Frenchy DeSoto and Moses Keale. Apoliona by Trustees Machado

and Springer. Both Beamer and Akana, who have been

critical of Hee's leadership in the past, voted to support him. (See Beamer and Akana columns on Pages 19 and 20.) Apoliona was nominated by Machado, who called her a team player who has the skills and vision necessary to lead OHA. (See Machado eolumn, Page 20.) Abraham Aiona was reelected vice chair,

by Barbara A. Hastings

besting Hannah Springer. The new committee struc- _ ture creates six committees of

the board with broad trustee representation on all but one. Hee said the move was to make eaeh trustee — old or new — accountable. "I hope you view this as an effort ...to open the dialogue," Hee said. Beamer and Akana called the committee assignments "generous" to the new trustees. "It is not my effort to be generous," Hee said. "For me it was an effort to look at the skills (of eaeh trustee). For me, it was an opportunity to blend the new with the not so new..." trustees. He said the beneficiaries of OHA will expect more sophisticated work from the trustees because of the challenges and opportunities facing the Hawaiian people. Earlier in the month, the trustees asked both ^ y y candidates for chair for positions on

issues racing cjn/\. /\ponona saia the board needed "to rebridge the trust" with beneficiaries, and to shore up internal policies and functions. (See Apoliona's eolumn on Page 21.) Hee said sovereignty was the biggest question facing Hawaiians today. "We are on the lowest rung. We are simply consumers. The challenge is to become producers." He said Hawaiians started becoming eonsumers in 1778 when Capt. James Cook arrived, and continue to be eon-

C!ayfon Hee sumersHe said poliheal sovereignty without eeonomie autonomy cannot

work. "The challenge for this board," Hee said, "has been to recapture what is ours." But that is no longer enough, he said. "The engine that drives soverignty is eeonomie autonomy." (See also Hee's published comments on ceded lands, self-sufficiency and sovereignty on Page 6.)

We ore simply consumers. The challenge is to become producers. "

New OHA Board of Trustees: (Standing left to right) Chairman Clayton Hee, Haunani Apoliona, Rowena Akana, Vice-Chairman Abraham Aiona, Colette Machado and Hannah Springer. (Seated left to right) A. Frenchy DeSoto, Rev. Moses Keale, and Billie Beamer.