Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 5, 1 Mei 1997 — The value of my vote [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The value of my vote

IT VOICES MY OBLIGATION TO INDEPENDENTLY SCRUTINIZE FOR ENDORSEMENT, CREDIBLE ACTIONS TO INCREASE BENEFICIARY BENEFITS AFTER WEIGHING THE INPUT FROM BENEFICIARY, TECHNICAL, HISTORICAL AND CURRENT DATA SOURCES. On April 8th my one unadvertised vote was carefully used to elect OHA's Chairman. There were two candidates: The incumbent Clayton Hee who had the needed five votes to be re-elected, and Haunani Apo-

hona, the challenger who had three promised votes from the Lōkahi Team. For an hour the two candidates fielded questions ' from only three interested trustees.

TRUSTEE CLAYTON HEE OFFEF PHILOSOPHIC THRUST: I ► POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY | WITHOUT ECONOMIC AUTONOI MY IS A FACADE. WE MUST BE PRODUCERS, NOT CONSUMERS, HE SAID. After 50 years of Hawaiian Politics I finally heard a non-begging accusatory plan, whieh was, •We ean be Self-Sufficient! •We don't need to be on the dole! • We must facilitate Sovereignty! The candidate began to dream aloud, and as the dream swelled in scope, it stretched to OHA's National and Global participation. i At home he provocatively started

with land acquisitions of non-revenue producing State Lands. •Let's take the landmark Diamond Head •Molokini Island off Molokai, or •Sand Island (of Wongham fame). The reporters scrambled to inimitably caricature Japanese weddings and eappueeino concessions in Diamond Head. Some in the audience scoffed but

many more sat up and hstened intently. The vision of non-beggarship or "poor ting grants" had merit. He held up an annual report from a self sufficient Maori Tribe. He proclaimed, we too,

must distribute to all of our beneficiaries details of our finances, operational performanee and implement the State Auditor's findings (my chronic pleas answered pub-

(ED HIS

licly). Trustee Haunani Apoliona presented a 17-page campaign submittal that included an impressive resume. endorsements from suDoort-

ers and a plan to change the committee structure at OHA to facilitate efficiency and lōkahi. The group could not practice what they had preached in the final vote of six to three...they voted to make a statement. More good calls eame in than bad who said, why? Beamer explain your |t vote! For a year you and Trustee Hee have been at it in the Ka W ai Ola. You used your 'Ōlelo TV program to expose the condition of OHA's management. You also kept saying there are nine of us, you can't make decisions by yourself. All true, but, the mute supportine

majority were part of the decisions. My insistence to elean house is a necessary routine. Embarking on new directions is not perfunctory. Breaking new ground, provides new insights and opportunities. My 20-year public disapproval of Pinky Thompson's Federal Billion dollar grants for his Hawaiian bureaucracies, was not based on personal animosity,

but on an aversion to rely on the dole. He fostered spending, never pursuing ways that eaeh of his entities could be self supporting. Now that the federal and state piggie banks are almost bankrupt, the locusts who fattened on the federal fields of greenbacks gravitate to partake of OHA's sprouting field. My vote went to the Chairman Hee, because I reject programs that sustain victimhood. Granted he is unharnessed, and very self assured. Is this not the cloth of creative people? Like it or not he floated titib lating captivating ideas...I like big thinkers who 'dream the impossible dreams.' I voted for the implementation of a dream of self-sufficiency and for sovereignty supported by Eeonomie Autonomy. I voted for the promise of open public accountability. I voted for the courage to break out of the predictable mold or eoeoon of learned self-diminishment. I have never wanted people to cripple my independence. When the ehainnan said, OHA ean learn from other businesses and become a contending eeonomie leader in the State, I used my precious vote to endorse, and explore the producible quest for our self sufficiency and shuck dependency. I have the skills to help OHA move. HOW WOULD YOU HAVE USED YOUR VOTE? e mail: billie@hgea.org Web Page: http:/ /www.hgea.org./~billie/billie.htm

My vote for the implementation of a dream of self-sufficiency aI and for sovereignty supported by Eeonomie Autonomy.

Ka Wal Ola o OHA M* <May> '97 »

* « iW* vJ ^ Trustee Messages OHA truslees' individual vkws expressed do no! necessarilif represent , the official position of the Board of Trustees. OHA is not responsible for accuracy of these commentaries. The trustees weleome comment. Write to Ka Wai Ola o OHA, 711 Kapi'olani Blvd. Suite 500, Honolu- \ lu 96813. I

Trustee, At-Large