Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 3, 1 March 1998 — The first third of our first year [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The first third of our first year

VALENTINE'S DAY was special for me this year because Feb. 14 marked exactly four months since the new leadership took the reins at OHA. The transition has not been easy, but I am very proud our team "hit the road running" on Oct. 14. 1 promised to keep you informed. so here is a recap of our 123 days of leadership. The Good We adopted a 1 998 legislative package and coordinated its introduction. We reviewed all other measures introduced in the 1 998 session and identified 83 1 with potential impact on OHA beneficiaries. We provided support for the Jan. 30-3 1 Kūkahi march and vigil at the capitol. Hundreds of Hawaiians and nonHawaiians and virtually every major Hawaiian organization stood in opposition to limitations on Hawaiian cultural rights and to the Native Hawaiian Autonomy Act. Both bills have been held by the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, chaired by

Representative Case, the author. We appropriated $3,020,230 as follows: $1.1 million for OHA's share of development costs for the Kūlana 'Ōiwi Kalama'ula Multi-Service Center; to Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, $726,843 for land title and native rights projects and $74,000 for services in kuleana cases; up to $10.000 to quiet title in Koki v. Keawe; $94,887 for two positions in the Department of Land and Natural Resources burial sites program; $350,000 to OHA's Education Foundation for scholarships; $4,500 for Hawaiian language instruction at Lāna'i High School: $60.000 to Nā Pua Ko'olau. a self-help project on Hawaiian Home Lands in Waimānalo; up to $ 100,000 for a survey regarding Hawaiian issues; and up to $500,000 for an education campaign;. We also awarded $558,968 in grants: $23,775 for breast cancer detection; $36,000 to rebuild the hale moe and construct a hālau at Hawai'i's Plantation Village; $50,000 for "A Mau A Mau," a documentary on contemporary Hawaiian culture; $20,250 for a photographic documentary of sacred Maui sites; $53,460 for

the Hawaiian Academy at Honoka'a High School: $80,01 8 to the Life Foundation for case management of Hawaiian AIDS patients; $8 1 ,000 for Nā Kālai Wa'a o Kaua'i toward a voyaging eanoe; $38,180 for a health care system on wheels for the Hawaiian eommunity; $125,575 for "Nation Within," a documentary on annexation; $12,1 10 for Hawaiian language tutors at Wai'anae High School; $18,600 for Lanakila Church to send Hawaiian students and chaperons to a youth ministry conference in Washing-

ton, D.C.; and, $18,000 for Castle High's "School Within a School." We launched the Beneficiaiy Outreach Project, a series of statewide meetings to inform Hawaiians about issues affecting rights and entitlements and to seek their mana'o and assistance in prioritizing nine issues. As of this writing, 17 meetings have been held on Oahu, Kaua'i, Maui, Hawai'i, Lāna'i and Moloka'i. Another is scheduled for Waimea, Kaua'i. We conducted a survey to determine what readers want to see in Ka Wai Ola. The newspaper now publishes a financial report recapping OHA's ineome, expenditures, and investments, and a report on board business. We joined more than 80 Hawaiian kumu hula and eommunity activists in a solemn ceremony at Pu'u Māhoe to reaffirm the commitment to heal Kaho'olawe. Pursuant to OHA's status as a "concuning" party. to a Programmatic Agreement between the FAA, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Hawai'i State Historic Preservation Office, we will review measures to preserve historical and archaeological sites at

the Kahului Airport during eonstruction. At the 7th Annual Ke Kukui Mālamalama Awards ceremony, we honored educators Gabriel 'ī. A1 Barcarse, David Kapepa and Noe Losch. We appointed Malia Akutagawa of Moloka'i, Angel Pilago of West Hawai'i and David Scott of O'ahu to the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council . The Bad The board refused to appoint a lobby team to represent OHA and beneficiaiy interests during the 1998 legislative session. Cancellation of several board and eommiūee meetings for laek of a quorum has also plagued us and beneficiaries who eame to make presentations or to respond to questions. While the frail health of three trustees contributed to this situation, several meetings were canceled because able-bod-ied trustees refused to attend. TlieUgly Wrong and misleading information and negative comments appeared in Trustee Messages in the past three issues of Ka Wai Ola. ■

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TRUSTEE MESSAGES

eh airperson's m e s s a g e

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