Looking back at 2015 and welcoming the New Year

`Ano`ai kakou…  Happy Year of the Monkey!  I began 2015 on a high note as the new Chairperson of the Asset & Resource Management (ARM) Committee and oversaw OHA’s budget, fiscal operations and Trust Fund.

From January to July, the ARM Committee was incredibly productive.  We had a total eleven (11) ARM meetings; two (2) joint meetings with the Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment Committee; and passed a total of seven (7) ARM Action Items, which included authorizing funds to help support our kupuna at Lunalilo Home.

Despite my ARM committee’s high output, on July 30, 2015, the Trustees voted to consolidate the ARM committee with the Land and Property (LAP) Committee to form a new super-committee called the Committee on Resource Management (RM).

OHA leadership believed that consolidating the committees would lead to greater efficiency in the Board of Trustees, but I was not supportive of the consolidation because the RM committee is simply too broad in scope.  I am still hopeful that the Trustees can go back to our previous system of five committees.  It worked so well to engage the Trustees and allowed us to deal with issues proactively.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

I will continue to push for more fiscal responsibility within OHA on issues such as:

  • Changing our spending policy limit to 4 ½ percent of the Trust Fund given the state of the current economy;
  • Conducting a full forensic audit of how every penny is spent at OHA; and
  • Making sure the Administration keeps its promise to get rid of the “Fiscal Reserve” slush fund.

EMBRACING TRANSPARENCY

If you haven’t already heard, you may now go to OHA’s website at http://www.oha.org/about/board-trustees to watch live meetings of the OHA Board of Trustees.  Be sure to tune in on the days we have our meetings.  For a meeting schedule, please call me at (808) 594-0204.

NEW LEGISLATIVE SESSION

OHA is currently working on plans to develop its Kaka‘ako Makai properties with a truly Hawaiian sense of place that allows for open space and ease of community access to the waterfront.

For the upcoming legislative session, I will be focusing on legislation that will allow OHA to use its Kakaako properties provide our beneficiaries and the community as a whole with affordable housing.

OHA should be allowed to increase its building height limit in order to allow for more middle income condos.  Everyone agrees that Hawaii’s homeless problem is caused in large part due to the lack of truly affordable housing.  Luxury high rises that only millionaire mainlanders can afford are sprouting up all around the Kakaako area.  OHA is one of the few entities that can develop affordable living spaces in the area that specifically targets local buyers.

The lack of affordable housing is not just a Native Hawaiian issues, it’s an issue that affects us all.  This is why we will be counting on the support of the broader community to get this legislation passed.  I have high hopes that, working together, we will all have a successful session.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou and God bless.

Consolidating committees is an attempt to control power – AGAIN!

`Ano`ai kakou…  On July 30, 2015, the Trustees voted to authorize the OHA Administration’s proposal to consolidate my committee, Asset & Resource Management (ARM) and the Land and Property (LAP) Committee into a new super-committee called the Committee on Resource Management.  The board needs to vote on it one more time before it becomes official but, by the time you read this, it probably already happened.

OHA’s administration feels that having three committees only wastes time and effort.  But this just part of the administration’s continuous efforts to strengthen their control over Trustees.  Over the past six months they have harassed Trustees by denying our travel and sponsorship requests; using vague rules that we never authorized.  Is the administration elected by the beneficiaries or hired by the Trustees?

Trustees are the policy makers, but with very weak leadership at the helm of the board, our powers have been minimized.  OHA’s administrators and attorneys run the show and the Trustees have been downgraded.  Despite pledging to take back power, this Chairman has not kept his promise to Trustees.

Consolidating committees will only centralize power under a few Trustees that are favored by the administration.  Despite early promises by this Chairman to stop this kind of shenanigans, he has failed.  So you can expect business as usual.

Over ten years ago, OHA had five committees covering everything from land to the legislature.  Trustees developed many successful programs, such as Aha ‘Opio and Aha Kupuna.  Then Trustee Haunani Apoliona and her faction took over and consolidated the five committees into two, giving her and her successor a tighter grip on power.

This was the start of a string of disasters as OHA could not get anything meaningful done.  With no Trustee Committees overseeing them, our successful programs were quietly discontinued.   But it’s the loss of land that was the most devastating consequence.

Maili Land

In 2002, a company leaving Hawaii offered to donate to OHA 198 acres of Maili land.  OHA waited too long to respond and the company sold the land, valued at $3,000,000, for $100,000.  The ARM chairman at the time said he didn’t see the urgency of the deal and failed to take it up in his committee in a timely manner.  It was unconscionable to let such a huge opportunity slip through the cracks.  Unfortunately, history tends to repeat itself.

Puna Land

On August 18, 2004, Joe Wedeman offered to donate 66.4 acres of Puna land to OHA.  The gift was a tremendous opportunity and could be an educational and cultural resource for students.

I immediately asked the ARM chairman to bring it to the committee for a vote and reminded him about the Maili debacle.  On September 1, 2004, he asked the administrator to do a study first.  Then, on September 29, 2004, they asked for three more weeks to visit the site.  When I checked on December 17, 2004, it still wasn’t done.

By the time the Administration finally presented the study to ARM on February 16, 2005, Mr. Wedeman had withdrawn his offer.

We need both the LAP & ARM committees

The Trustees seem to have forgotten all of the problems above that led to the creation of the LAP Committee.  Shouldn’t everyone be asking why leadership wants to combine it with ARM?  They are putting power again in the hands of a few Trustees and the Administrator.  Aloha Ke Akua.

Many positive things happening at OHA

`Ano`ai kakou…  As we start the New Year off, I feel it is important to highlight all of the positive things that have been happening at OHA.

A POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT

OHA Chairman Robert Lindsey is working hard to make sure that everyone at OHA has a voice and that their concerns are heard.

Chair Lindsey has supported me every step of the way as I take over as the new Chairperson of the Asset & Resource Management (ARM) Committee.  It is refreshing to finally work with a Chair that doesn’t let his personal feelings get in the way of doing what is right for OHA and its beneficiaries.

GRANTS

In March, Trustees will review grant applications that will make $8.9 million in OHA grant funds available to community-based nonprofits that can help address key priorities for bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians.  Trustees will need to approve between 30 and 35 grants for a two-year period between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2017.

LEGISLATURE

OHA will request $7.4 million in state funds during the upcoming 2015 Hawai‘i legislative session.  If approved, the biggest impact will be felt in social services, where an estimated 7,250 Native Hawaiians are targeted to receive the support they need to help prevent debilitating debt, unemployment, and homelessness.

CHARTER SCHOOLS

In 2014, Trustees awarded 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools a $1.5 million grant for the 2013-2014 school year.  The grant is helping Native Hawaiian charter schools keep pace with growing enrollment, which had increased to 4,224 from 4,033 the year before.

SCHOLARSHIPS

In 2014, Trustees approved a combined total of $870,000 in scholarship money to help Native Hawaiian students pay for college in a time of rising tuition costs.  The average awarded to 354 Native Hawaiian students last year was $2,458.  The total amount of college scholarships that OHA has given out over the past five years totals to about $3.5 million.

FACILITATING NATION BUILDING

Trustees are committed this year to facilitate the next steps in a process that empowers Native Hawaiians to participate in building a governing entity.  The effort has drawn broad-based support from Hawaiian leaders who are prepared to help shape the process and outcome, with OHA serving as a facilitator and supporter.

REVENUE FROM RENTALS

More than a year after the BOT approved the acquisition of OHA’s headquarters on Nimitz, the building has finally achieved a 90 percent occupancy rate.  By comparison, the occupancy rate was only 65 percent in November 2013 when we moved in.

OHA Trustees excluded

By: OHA TRUSTEE ROWENA AKANA

Source: July 2010 Ka Wai Ola o OHA Monthly Column

Chair Apoliona goes out of her way to exclude trustees from board discussions.  For example:

DUE DILIGENCE MEETINGS

Back in April, the SEC brought a civil action against Goldman Sachs, one of OHA’s two money managers, because of “a single transaction in 2007 involving two professional institutional investors.”  Goldman assured us that they believe the SEC’s allegations were “completely unfounded both in law and fact,” and that they would vigorously defend themselves.  Every trustee had reason to be deeply concerned since, as of December 31, 2009, Goldman managed $171,649,375 of OHA’s Trust Fund.

On April 20, 2010, Goldman invited OHA to meet with them in New York on May 7, 2010 for an explanation.  Chairperson Apoliona, Trustees Machado and Stender, and CEO Namuo traveled to New York for the meeting.  I did not submit a request to travel so I don’t know if the Chair denied travel for anyone else.

On April 21, 2010, Goldman offered to provide Trustees that could not attend the New York meeting with a “live video conference feed” from their office to our boardroom.  This would allow all of us to at least listen in on the Goldman meeting.

Then suddenly, on April 23, 2010, the OHA Board Counsel cancelled the Goldman videoconference, most likely at the request of the Chairperson.  At the request of Trustee Heen, the Board Counsel wrote a legal opinion to explain his position.  The Board Counsel felt that, since Goldman refused to allow the video conference to be viewed by the public in an open meeting, OHA would end up breaking the Sunshine Law.  Since none of the trustees I have spoken to have actually seen any communication from Goldman Sachs objecting to an open meeting, I am not convinced that there was such a communication.

There were other ways to allow the trustees to listen in and still stay within the law.  For example, we could have gone into executive session during the “sensitive” portions of the broadcast.  While it wouldn’t have been the most ideal solution, Chair Apoliona has shown in the past that she has no problems taking things into executive session, even when it is not necessary except to keep the public from hearing what is going on.

It is clear to me that this was just a deliberate attempt to keep the majority of the board from hearing what Goldman had to say.  At the time of the writing of this article, there has been NO report to the Board of Trustees from Trustees Apoliona, Stender, or Machado regarding their New York meeting.

SELECTIVE DENIAL

Another example of Chair Apoliona’s selective denial happened back in 2008, when, without even the proper authority, Apoliona denied my travel to South Dakota on official business as a board member of the Governors’ Interstate Indian Council (GIIC).  I am the only non-Indian member of this national organization representing Native Americans and Alaska Natives in all 50 states.  The GIIC has supported OHA’s efforts for federal recognition with five resolutions that have been sent to Congress on our behalf.

WORKSHOPS

On May 4, 2010, the Board Counsel wrote another legal opinion about his decision to deny a Trustee from participating in a Board Workshop on April 22, 2010 by telephone.  The Trustee had been told by the Administration that it wouldn’t be a problem for him to participate over a speaker phone, but that decision was overruled by the Board Counsel, which went against OHA’s longstanding practice of allowing participation via telephone as long as the Trustee did not vote.

KAMEHAMEHA LEI DRAPING CEREMONY

On April 26, 2010, each Trustee received an invitation letter from the Hawai`i State Society of Washington, D.C. to participate in the 2010 Kamehameha Lei draping ceremonies on June 6, 2010.  Trustees have supported and attended the ceremony since 2003; including the historic first ceremony in Emancipation Hall at the new Capitol Visitors Center in 2009.  Despite this, on May 3, 2010, the Chairperson denied travel for all Trustees except for herself and OHA staff members CEO Namuo, COO Stanton Enomoto, and Special Assistant to the CEO Martha Ross.

Meetings were scheduled by the Administration to meet with Federal Officials while in Washington, D.C. – meetings that the Trustees should have attended.  This has become a common practice with this Chair.  Despite this denial, I elected to pay my own way to Washington, D.C. as I had an important meeting scheduled at the White House.

Chairperson Apoliona must stop interfering with our right to represent the beneficiaries that elected us.  Sadly, this has been going on for the last eight years.

OTHER NOTABLE ISSUES:  QUESTIONABLE SPENDING

In a May 3rd e-mail to the Trustees, Chair Apoliona explained that she was denying travel for the 2010 Kamehameha Lei draping in D.C. on June 6th, because of economic reasons, not mentioning that there were also important meetings scheduled with Federal Officials that Trustees should have attended.  Chair Apoliona wrote:

“Since 2009 Trustees have been asked to limit requests for out of state travel due to our downturn in the economy and the impact on OHA resources.  Although there is demonstration of what appears to be an ‘improving’ economy, we all continue to be vigilant and cautious.”  “…even in 2010 we should remain cautious about out of state travel costs and continue to manage out-of-State travel requests prudently.” — OHA Chair Haunani Apoliona

However, the Chair failed to mention that while she was denying Trustees’ travel, three OHA staff members went instead of Trustees.  While in D.C., OHA paid for a reception for 200 people, including entertainment.  How much did this cost our beneficiaries?  What about the “downturn in the economy?”

While I understand her reasons for being “cautious” with our spending during this economic downturn, a quick review of OHA’s recent spending shows that she is at worse a hypocrite and, at best, full of baloney.  For example, at a time when our people are living homeless on beaches, OHA authorized spending the following on June 3, 2010:

  • $100,000 to sponsor a Native Hawaiian men’s health conference in June 2010; and
  • $100,000 to sponsor an International Indigenous Health Conference.  There was no mention of how many Hawaiians were going to be able to attend this Conference.

The Administration also proposed to transfer $421,300 in education grant money to fund a “Continent Community Education” program in Hi’ilei Aloha LLC, a nonprofit that currently manages Waimea Valley.  This program would have given OHA funds to an organization outside of the Trustee’s direct oversight.  Hi’ilei Aloha would then determine who gets to travel to the mainland to educate people about the Akaka bill.  My guess is that her relative, who now works with Hi’ilei Aloha, would be doing most of the traveling, since that was the case when she worked for OHA.  This highly questionable proposal was quickly scuttled after several trustees and I brought up serious concerns at the board table, specifically that this private organization would in fact end up doing the work that OHA Trustees are charged to do.

OHA TOO TOP-HEAVY?

Just about five years ago, OHA’s budget was around $23 million.  Today, OHA’s budget has ballooned to $42,107,095.  A whopping $12,320,998 is spent on salaries and benefits.  Another $7,541,655 is spent on work that is contracted outside of OHA.  Only $1,410,130 is spent on OHA programs to assist our beneficiaries!  What’s up with that?

FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS

I have always said that OHA’s two committee system allows too many important issues to slip through the cracks.  The system was put into place by Chair Apoliona to consolidate her control over the Board of Trustees.  Since the two committee chairs have to oversee every function of the Board, there are just too many issues for each committee chair to consider and a lot of important issues fall through the cracks.  Things are so bad now that almost nothing is being done by the committees.

The Asset and Resource Management (ARM), chaired by Trustee Stender, meets only twice a month (if there are no sudden cancellations), despite the huge swings in the stock market and the volatile nature of the world economy.  Also, the ARM committee is responsible for evaluating OHA programs and deciding whether to continue, modify, or terminate their funding, but this has not occurred for the past several years.  The State Auditor’s recent report will back this up.

In the past year, the ARM committee has cancelled or rescheduled many meetings, reducing the number of meetings we have in a month.  For example:

  • The August 5, 2009 and September 2, 2009 ARM Committee Meetings were cancelled.
  • The September 23, 2009 meeting was rescheduled to September 22, 2009.  Since there was no quorum for the September 22, 2009 meeting, it was postponed.
  • The ARM Committee meeting scheduled for May 12, 2010 was cancelled.  There were no ARM meetings in all of May 2010.

Since Trustee Stender has chaired the ARM committee, OHA has not taken its budget out into the community as required by law.

The Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment (BAE) committee, Chaired by Trustee Colette Machado, is responsible for developing programs which focus on beneficiary health, human services, native rights and education and evaluate all OHA programs to ensure a positive impact on our beneficiaries.  Not only has the BAE Chair failed to develop any new programs, she is actually trying to eliminate them.  Just ask members of the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council (NHHPC).  In fact, since Chairperson Apoliona has chaired the Board and Trustees Machado and Stender have chaired the two Committees, virtually all OHA programs have been discontinued.

Another byproduct of this system is that the active participation of the six other trustees has been cut-off.  The only thing that the other Trustees get to do is vote on whatever is being brought to the board or committee table.  In the past, the five committee system gave the majority of the trustees the responsibility of running a committee.  Today, I believe that the saddest result of the two committee system is that several of the trustees have become apathetic.  They aren’t as interested in board affairs since they are not consulted about any subject matters prior to a meeting.  Chair Apoliona has also acquiesced trustees’ power to the CEO, which further exacerbates the problem.

Chair Apoliona always likes to say that OHA has never been better.  There is no truth to that statement.  There was a time when Trustees were passionate about the issues near and dear to their hearts; worked tirelessly to improve the lives of our beneficiaries; and when the moral of our employees were at its best.  Let us look for change in the November elections.  Aloha pumehana.