Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 5, 1 May 1999 — NEGOTIATIONS IMPASSE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NEGOTIATIONS IMPASSE

AS THE legislature approaches adjournment, it appears lawmakers will not he considering any settlement of the ceded land revenues due the Office of Hawaiian Affairs

under Circuit Court Judge Daniel Heely's 1996 rulings in OHA vs. State. Heely held that OHA was owed a portion of the ineome generated by Duty Free Shop-

pers in Waikīkī, Hilo Hospital patient and cafeteria services, and the Housing Finance and Development Corporation and Hawai'i Housing Authority, See IMPASSE on page 9

FRONTPAGENEWS: U P D A T E S

DUTY FREE WAIKĪKĪ PROTEST — Laek of resolution of ceded land claims has prompted demonstrations at airports statewide and at the Duty Free Shoppers Galleria in Waikīkī, where protesters distributed leaflets in English and Japanese explaining $62.4 million dollars is owed OHA for the lucrative concession, according to State Auditor Marion Higa. photo manu boyd

IMPASSE

continued from page 1 along with interest earned on ceded land revenues. The state then appealed the decision to the Supreme Court whieh heard oral arguments īn April of last year. Shortly thereafter, Governor Ben Cayetano and OHA then-Chair Frenchy DeSoto jointly announced the State of Hawai'i and OHA were requesting the Supreme Court allow them time to try to resolve through negotiation the issues on appeal. The court gave the parties until Dec. 1 to reach a settlement and warned there would be no extensions, but discussions have continued. Since OHA's reorgnization in November, OHA's negotiation team has consisted of Chair Rowena Akana and Trastees Clayton Hee and

Mihlani Trask. OHA counsel Kali Watson has done the legwork necessary to crafting the terms of OHA's offers and counteroffers. The new team met with the state's negotiators eight times between Jan. 8 and March 4, when discussions reached an impasse. A sticking point has been the state's demand that the parties arrive at a "global settlement" of all OHA claims rather than limit negotiations to the issues on appeal. This carries the unacceptable requirement that OHA abstain from future lawsuits against the state. "I believe OHA has done everything that is humanly possible, but the state has insisted OHA must give up its right to sue even on future claims," summarized Chair Akana. "We cannot do this as fiduciaries, and the governor knows we cannot do this. The law that governs our office prohibits such a thing. We won't be setthng this during this legislative session." ■