Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 2004 — OHA board votes to keep current leaders [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA board votes to keep current leaders

By KWO staff In the first meeting of OHA's Board of Trustees since the Nov. 2 general election, the nine-mem-ber board on Nov. 22 unanimously reappointed At-Large Trustee Haunani Apoliona as their leader. At-Large Trustee John Waihe'e IV was also unanimously reconfirmed as vice chair. "Today the Board of Trustees organized itself for renewed efforts on behalf of our beneficiaries and our shared eommon vision and mission," Apoliona said after the meeting. "The vision is ho'oulu lāhui aloha - to raise a beloved nation. The mission is to mālama (care for) Hawai'i's people and environmental

resources, along with OHA's assets, toward ensuring the perpetuation of the culture and the protection of Native Hawaiian entitlements by building a strong Hawaiian nation that is recognized nationally and internationally. "Today, as a board, we have recommitted to the priorities expressed in OHA's strategic plan, and through our collective efforts we intend to make a positive difference for our beneficiaries and for Hawai'i nei." The nine trustees also unanimously supported nominations for leadership of the board's two standing committees. O'ahu Trustee Dante Keala Carpenter will chair the Assets Resource

Management (ARM) Committee, with former chairperson Oz Stender (At-Large) now serving as vice-chair. Moloka'i/Lāna'i Trustee Colette Machado will continue to chair the Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment (BAE) Committee, with Maui Trustee Boyd Mossman now serving as vice chair. Board unchanged in election The leadership vote eame after an election in whieh the Board of Trustees remained unchanged. Trustees Apoliona and Linda Dela Cruz (Hawai'i island) comfortably won re-election in their races for four-year terms, while Machado and Donald Cataluna (Kaua'i) ran unopposed, and thus were automatically re-elected. The five remaining trustees on the board were not See BOARD on page 8

BOARD from page 1 up for election this year, with their current four-year terms due to expire in 2006. They are: Mossman, Carpenter, Stender, Waihe'e and At-Large Trustee Rowena Akana. In keeping with the overall high voter turnout in this year's election, OHA trustee candidates received unusually large vote totals. Apoliona said she felt the high number of votes was "a positive indicator of the public's perception that OHA is turning the corner and doing a good job. To me, the vote serves as a reinforcement of the direction the board has been taking in regard to Hawaiian self-determi-nation, federal recognition of Hawaiians and reconciliation of disputed revenue due to the Native Hawaiian Trust." Since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2000 decision in the Rice v. Cayetano case, non-Hawaiians have been allowed to vote in OHA elections, whieh were previously limited to voters who declared Hawaiian ancestry. In addition, although five of the board's seats are designated as representing particular islands, they, like the at-large seats, are decided by voters throughout the state. ■

Trustees Haunani Apoliona and John Waihe'e IV were unanimously re-elect-ed as board chair and vice chair.

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