Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 9, 1 September 1999 — BOARD BUSINESS [ARTICLE]

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BOARD BUSINESS

AT rrs July 30 meeting on Lāna'i, the Board of Trustees of the OfiSce of Hawaiian Affairs approved $116,996.60 in grant funding to support the following projects aimed at serving Native Hawaiians: • $1,400 to Anahola Oeean j Recreation (Kaua'i) for water safety instruction; • $29,169.60 to Hui No Ke Ola Pono (Maui) for perinatal services; • $48,451.00 to Winners at Work (O'ahu) for employment and training of the disabled; • $3,835.00 to the National Agri-Marketing Association of the University of Hawai'i at Hilo for marketing research on hybrid orchids; • $5,381.00 toHo'ouluKe Ola O Nā Pua (Kaua'i) for kūpuna workshops;

• $14,500 to Hawaiian Kamah'i (Maui) for teen after sehool programs; • $14,260 to the Maui Food Bank (Moloka'i) for a garden at Kilohana Elementary School. On Aug. 10, the board deferred, pending its request foy additional documents and other information, a vote on the proposal by the Native Hawaiian Education Council to transfer to the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) tbe Department of Education grant currently administered by OHA. Mr. Jim Dannemiller of SMS Research and Marketing Services, ine. presented the results of OHA's seven-month puhlie opinion survey. Dueto departures, the board lacked the quorum required to consider the Dollars-to-Classroom Act or the

Native Hawaiian Health Care Act. At its Maui meeting on Aug. 27, the board appropriated $243,000 to support the education projects and staffing of the Paepae Hanohano, the board's volunteer advisory committee on sovereignty. It also appropriated $1.2 million to serve as a loan guarantee to support the County of Hawai'i Department of Water ) Supply's application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Water and Environmental Grant and Loan Program on behalf of Kikala-Keokea families and to match funds for road construction and clearing homestead lots. It approved funds for new initiatives in altemative educa- ; tion for Ho'omaka Hou at Cas- : tle High School; Kulia I ka

Nu'u at Kailua High School; Kanu o ka 'Āina at Honoka'a High School; and Hina Malailena at Hana Community Summer School Project. The trustees also voted to support both the Dollars to Classroom Act, a federal bill that could benefit Native Hawaiians in the area of education, and reauthorization of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act with amendments. The board deferred action on authorizing funds for the following: the development and implementation of OHA's Native Hawaiian Medicare Pharmacy Discount Program; the OHA Education Foundation's operating budget; the eonstruction of the Ho'olehua Recreation Center on Moloka'i in collaboration with the Department of Hawaiian Home

Lands; the Maunalaha infrastructure development project; the Hana Community Health Center for the maintenance of an appropriate level of health care. The trustees also deferred a vote on a proposed raise for the staff attomey and on the issuance of an RFP for a Wash-ington-based contractor who would monitor Hawaiian issues and serve as a haison with federal decision-makers The trustees voted against an appropriation for a new initiative, Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems - Emergency Medical Aid and against an appropriation for the development of a feasibihty study/business plan for the Hana Community Health Center campus. They also rejected a merit systems and incentive awards paekage for the OHA staff. ■