Tag: CEO Kamana’opono Crabbe

Ethics Commission is being manipulated

`Ano`ai kakou…  As you may have heard in the media recently, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission has filed accusations against me that are inaccurate and politically motivated by my opponents who want to muddy up my reputation because this in an election year.  I didn’t break any laws.  I didn’t do anything I’m ashamed of.  And I can defend everything.

Trustee Allowance

I have explained (twice) to the Ethics Commission that I did not use my trustee allowance funds to pay for a “home security system,” an “iTunes gift card,” a “Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club membership,” along with other things they claim, yet they refused to listen.

I did buy the whole office lunch for a secretary that was leaving, but it wasn’t a party for myself and our fiscal department said it was an allowable expense.

I also sent Princess Abigail Kawananakoa flowers in the hospital when she suffered a stroke.  Again, this was allowed under our existing fiscal policy.

The charges for internet and phone lines are permitted under our rules because I use them to communicate with OHA beneficiaries and staff while I’m working from home.  OHA Trustees have been allowed to work from home since 1993.

OHA’s Administration verifies all of the trustee allowance expenses quarterly and will not release the allowance funds for the next year unless everything has been resolved.  I received my Trustee Allowance check every year so this proves I did nothing wrong.

This Attack Is Politically Motivated

It is completely unfair for the commission to go back five years and dig up things they feel violates their rules.  The State Auditor’s recent report indicated that several other Trustees and the CEO were clearly in violation of ethics law and yet I’m the only one the commission charged.  This is so blatantly political.

Legal Fees

The commission also claims I wrongly accepted $72,000 from Princess Abigail Kawananakoa and that I didn’t report it as a gift within their deadline.  The truth is I never saw that money.  It went directly to my attorney to pay for legal fees related to my lawsuit to bring transparency to the Board.

My attorney advised that because I was being sued in my official capacity, anyone could offer to pay my legal fees and therefore it is not a personal “gift.”  However, he later recommended (after the reporting deadline passed) that I disclose the money “in an abundance of caution” and that’s what I did.

The Princess paid for my legal bills because she strongly supports the fiscal accountability I’ve been trying to bring to OHA.  I am just one of the many Hawaiians the Princess has helped over the years.

The Ethics Commission is Being Used

There are three Trustees who strongly support the CEO.  One of these Trustees filed this complaint against me to the Ethics Commission.  My detractors at OHA have been fighting my efforts to clean up our agency for years.  Now they have found an agency willing to help them create distrust and controversy against me in an election year.  It’s obvious they are only trying to shine the light away from the current Attorney General & FBI investigation of OHA.

Aloha Ke Akua.

Understanding OHA Politics: 5 Trustees + 1 CEO = Total Control

`Ano`ai kakou…  Due to the recent state audit, some have been calling for the ouster of all current Trustees.  Before people “throw the baby out with the bath water,” I think it’s important to understand how the politics at OHA allows six individuals to have complete control over OHA.  It’s a simple formula:

FIVE TRUSTEES

Five Trustees choose the Board Chair, which gives them an enormous edge over the remaining four Trustees.

The Board Chair serves as OHA’s Chief Procurement Officer and has complete control of OHA’s checkbook.  However, she has handed over this responsibility to the CEO so he can cut checks on a daily basis.  Some of the Trustees have questioned the CEO’s spending but the Board Chair is still OHA’s Chief Procurement Officer and if she is unwilling to investigate it, then nothing happens.

Another problem is legal representation for the “whole” Board as opposed to a few Trustees.

+ ONE CEO

Only Five Trustees are needed to hire the CEO, so he can ignore the remaining four if he chooses.  And that is exactly what he has done!  He has even gone so far as to tell his department heads to not meet with Trustees unless they have his permission.

The CEO has far more power over OHA than any Trustees or even the Board Chair.  Only the CEO (not the Trustees) has the power to hire and fire any OHA employee.

The CEO has complete control of OHA’s legal department and OHA’s Corp. Counsel answers directly to him.  So good luck asking the Corp. Counsel for help if you have a problem with the CEO.  Also, all of OHA’s legal department opinions must go through the CEO before the Trustees can see them.

= COMPLETE CONTROL

I’ve heard people argue that the Trustees should have known the CEO was misspending OHA Trust funds and that all Trustees share the blame for his misconduct.  Normally, I would agree with that statement.  However, when Five Trustees and the CEO form a political partnership, it is nearly impossible for the remaining Four Trustees to discover the truth.

As most people know, I have even gone so far as to sue the Board of Trustees to get some transparency.  That is the only option that minority Trustees have – go to court against the Board to allow information to flow to all Trustees and the public.

Aloha Ke Akua.

WAITING OVER A YEAR: Where is OHA’s Internal Audit?

`Ano`ai kakou…  Way, way back on February 8, 2017 – before the recent State Audit was completed – the Board of Trustees approved Action Item RM 17-02, which authorized a Request for Statement of Qualification from an independent CPA firm, for the purpose of conducting an audit of OHA and its subsidiary Limited Liability Companies (LLCs): Hi’ilei Aloha LLC, Ho’okele Pono LLC and Hi’ipaka LLC.

RM 17-02 authorized an independent auditor to look at the following:

  • Contracts:
    1. Sufficiency of contract/grant oversight provided appropriately by the assigned contract manager/monitor;
    2. Deliverables were met by the contractor/grant recipient;
    3. Conflict of interest with LLC managers and directors; and
    4. No fraudulent or wasteful disbursements were made.
  • All other disbursements of funds, excluding payroll:
    1. Conflict of interest with LLC managers and directors;
    2. Compliance with internal policies and procedures; and
    3. No fraudulent or wasteful disbursements were made.
  • Quarterly reports to the BOT:
    1. Sufficient internal controls are in place to ensure the integrity of the performance indicators as reported in the quarterly reports to the BOT.

On December 18, 2017, the independent auditor requested the check registers from Hi’ilei Aloha LLC, Ho’okele Pono LLC and Hi’ipaka LLC in order to finalize the audit.  It’s three months later and, at the writing of this column, we’ve still received nothing.

As a result of the stalling, on February 7, 2018, the Resource Management Chair, Trustee Hulu Lindsey, was forced to ask the Board to approved Action Item RM# 18-02 to compel the LLC Managers (OHA’s CEO, COO, & CFO) to submit any necessary LLC documents to her so she can transmit them to the independent auditor.

However, the LLC Managers and OHA’s Administration have objected to submitting their “proprietary” information to the Resource Management Chair.  Instead, they want to submit the documents directly to the independent auditor.  However, as contract administrator for the audit, the Resource Management Chair acts as the point of contact and is responsible for oversight of the audit.  Therefore, there shouldn’t be a problem with routing documents through her office for transmittal to the independent auditor.  The Resource Management Chair and her staff are willing to sign nondisclosure agreements to address this concern.

The LLC Managers and the Administration have also expressed doubts about legal issues related to the Board’s authority to request information from the LLCs.  In response, Trustee Hulu Lindsey consulted the State Attorney General’s office and received a letter stating that OHA (the Member) has rights to the information requested, pursuant to the Operating Agreements between OHA and each LLC, and pursuant to HRS Chapter 428, the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act.  The right of access includes the opportunity to inspect and copy records during business hours.

As the highest authority at OHA, the Board of Trustees should not have to tolerate all of the excuses and stalling tactics by the LLC managers and OHA’s Administration.  The OHA Chair needs to show some courage and demand that the information we need to carry out our audit is delivered to us immediately.  After all, this is one of the areas that the State Auditor said needed to be looked at.  This obvious stall is an indication of mismanagement.  Aloha Ke Akua.

OHA turmoil: Trustee Akana says staffers told of flagrant disregard for policies

NOTE: This op-ed was originally printed in the Honolulu Star Advertiser on February 25, 2018

LINK:  http://www.staradvertiser.com/?p=722471?HSA=44dec0285d36f9e93efa1bd7b3c84c45c183bddf

In January 2017, as then-chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ board of trustees, I and four other trustees offered OHA CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe a buyout of his contract so that we could have a fresh start with a new CEO and correct many of the issues that have now been revealed by the state auditor.

However, three trustees fought us hard: Colette Machado, Bob Lindsey and Dan Ahuna went above and beyond to protect the CEO. They all refused to deal with the problems plaguing OHA and lacked the political will to make the necessary changes.

Over the past few years, OHA has had a problem with a mass exodus of administrative staff. Whole divisions were gutted and we lost our most capable and experienced staff.

Several of these employees confided in trustees they trusted and shared their horror stories of unqualified managers, friends of the CEO, who flagrantly disregarded policies and procedures. When they brought up their concerns, they were threatened, bullied and reprimanded. Most of them left for greener pastures.

There were always at least a few grant applicants who complained to trustees about the application process during every grant-giving cycle. They sent us emails and personally testified at the board table about the unfairness of the whole process. Many of them said their grants were denied based on technicalities. And yet, at the same time, many of the organizations that received grants were not properly evaluated on their deliverables. Many of the institutions that did receive grants had some sort of personal connection to the CEO. Beneficiaries constantly urged the trustees to do something, but the trustees in power believed the CEO was doing a good job and ignored the complaints.

In February 2017, I was removed as the board chairwoman because, I believe, of the sweeping changes I intended to make within the organization. The efforts to reform OHA came to a halt and things went back to the status quo when Machado was chosen as my replacement, and the CEO was back in business.

At the time of my ouster, I warned OHA’s new leadership that one cannot hide the truth, that it was only a matter of time before the public found out about what was really going on here. I believe the recent state auditor’s report says it all.

A year has passed since the new faction took over and, as predicted, nothing has changed.

Further, legislative measures such as Senate Bill 1303, which calls for amendments to the OHA election process, are dangerous because many of the reform-minded trustees calling for fiscal responsibility, such as Trustees Hulu Lindsey, John Waihee IV and myself are up for re-election this year. SB1303 specifically targets our races. Those who want to maintain the status quo are hoping that the new voting format will help them knock us out of office. Proponents of the bill say they want a head-to-head race with the three at-large candidates, but this already happens in the primary election. Six candidates will move on to the general election for three seats.

One step forward, two steps back: OHA publishes a book and hands over Scholarship Program to UH

`Ano`ai kakou…  Last month I talked about OHA taking a step in the right direction by getting rid of a “middle-man” to administer OHA’s funds to support 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools.  It was a win-win situation I hoped we could replicate with other OHA programs.  Disappointingly, this seems to have been the exception, not the rule.

OHA PUBLISHES A BOOK ON MANA

Certain things should be contracted out to outside vendors, such as publishing books.  We’re a government agency focused on bettering the condition of Native Hawaiians, not a book publisher.

Amazingly, on November 21, 2017, OHA published and released a book that explores mana.  According to OHA’s press release, the 300-page Mana Lāhui Kānaka is “a multidimensional study of mana: what it is, how to articulate it, and how to access and cultivate it.  The book, which is available free to the public online, was co-authored by OHA Ka Pouhana and Chief Executive Officer Kamanaʻopono Crabbe, Ph.D, Dr. Kealoha Fox and Holly Coleman.”

I had no idea our CEO was using OHA staff time and resources over the past five years to write this book.  None of the previous Board Chairs or the Trustees I’ve talked to were aware of this project or how it came about.  Apparently, OHA’s CEO felt that there wasn’t many books written about mana out there, so he decided to have OHA publish one.

While mana maybe a worthwhile subject for some, is spending five years of staff time on it to publish a book more important than the life of our people or their homeless plight?  OHA needs to be more careful when taking on these projects because the public could easily see it as self-serving and done on the backs of our beneficiaries.

MIXED MESSAGES

According to OHA’s press release, on November 8, 2017 OHA filed a filed a lawsuit in First Circuit Court against the State of Hawaiʻi and the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) for their longstanding and well-documented mismanagement of Mauna Kea.  OHA’s complaint requests the court to order the state to fulfill its trust obligations relating to Mauna Kea and to terminate UH’s general lease for the mountain for breach of the lease’s terms.

“The state and UH have failed to properly mālama Mauna Kea and have demonstrated their inability to ensure that the environmental and cultural significance of the mountain is recognized and protected,” said OHA Vice Chair Dan Ahuna.  “It’s time to abandon any hope that UH is capable or even willing to provide the level of aloha and attention to Mauna Kea that it deserves,” Ahuna continued.  “We need to come together as a community to completely re-think how we care for the mauna, and that starts with cancelling the university’s master lease.”

I agree with Trustee Ahuna.  However, on November 29, 2017, the Board approved, based on the Administration’s recommendation, the disbursement of $550,000 from FY 2018 and $550,000 from FY 2019 to fund a grant to the UH system to serve as administrator for OHA’ scholarship fund.  NOTE:  I abstained.

So to recap, OHA can’t trust UH to properly manage Mauna Kea but we can totally trust them to properly distribute our money to Native Hawaiian students.  Talk about mixed messages.  Aloha Ke Akua.

State Procurement Office investigates OHA over lucrative, non-bid contract

`Ano`ai kakou…  On May 8, 2017, Hawaii News Now reported that “a criminal probe is now underway on a lucrative, non-bid contract issued by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.”  They also reported that “the state Attorney General’s office has subpoenaed records relating to an OHA’s contract with [a] Hawaiian scholar…  Sources said the subpoena was issued to the State Procurement Office, which recently found that OHA improperly awarded the contract without competitive bidding.”

In early May, OHA received a copy of a letter from Sara Allen, the Administrator of the State Procurement Office (SPO), to Mililani Trask regarding OHA’s Contract No. 2879 with Kuauli ꞌĀina-Based Insights LLC.  It stated that a certain division of our staff had violated the State Procurement laws.

This news was not a revelation to me, as I had been informing the Trustees that this behavior had been going on for a very long time.  As the former Chair, I wanted this behavior stopped.

It was the main reason for my rescinding the procurement duties from the OHA CEO, which caused a furor by some management staff and some of the public.  However, the public was not aware of OHA’s internal problems and did not understand my reasoning for this removal of this power.  Needless to say, my detractors used this to say the Board was dysfunctional under my two-month watch and it was a reason to elect a new Chair.  As a result, the “old guard” was put back in power.

So here we go again, faced with the same problems, only in worse shape now because it isn’t just the State Procurement Office who is looking into OHA.  We didn’t do well at the legislature last year or this year, and our beneficiaries question the ability of some Trustees to manage our Trust assets.

Can OHA be fixed?  Yes, but it will take political will on the part of some Trustees to do what is necessary to make this organization into one that our beneficiaries can be proud of and our employees happy to work for.  Aloha Ke Akua.

Refreshing Changes: Welcoming Maui Trustee Hulu Lindsey & OHA C.E.O. Dr. Kamana’opono Crabbe

March 2012 KA WAI OLA COLUMN

`Ano`ai kakou…  This year has started off with several refreshing changes.

NEW MAUI TRUSTEE

First, OHA welcomed new Maui Trustee, Carmen “Hulu” Lindsey, who was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie.  Trustee Lindsey will serve on an interim basis until November when a special election will be held to fill the remaining two years of Trustee Mossman’s term.  Trustee Lindsey brings a burst of new energy to the board with her knowledge, experience, and willingness to give her all for our beneficiaries.

NEW OHA C.E.O.

Congratulations to Dr. Kamana’opono Crabbe on his appointment by the Board of Trustees as the new Chief Executive Officer of OHA.  I have long admired his exemplary work over the past few years as OHA’s Research Director and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the position.

I am delighted that Dr. Crabbe’s lifetime of dedication and advocacy for Native Hawaiians is finally being recognized so appropriately.  It is a comfort for me to know that our people have a true advocate within OHA.  I am sincerely hoping that our staff members and Trustees will allow Dr. Crabbe to bring his own style of leadership to OHA, which may differ from previous administrations.

I look forward to working closely with both Trustee Hulu Lindsey and Dr. Crabbe this year to build a bright and sustainable future for all Native Hawaiians.

APPOINTED BAE VICE-CHAIR

I am pleased to report that I have been appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment (BAE), one of the two subject-matter committees under the Board of Trustees.  I will now be working closely with BAE Chair, Trustee John Waihe’e IV, on all federal and state legislation, on-going programs in health, housing, education, land, and the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund.

LEGISLATIVE LIAISON

I will also continue to serve as one of two “Legislative Liaisons” appointed by Trustee Waihe’e for the 2012 legislative session.  This is a crucial year for OHA as we intensely lobby the House and Senate for the passage of legislation to finally resolve the claims relating to OHA’s portion of income from the Public Land Trust between Nov. 7, 1978, and June 30, 2012. (House Bill 2521 & Senate Bill 2783).  I look forward to putting my many years of lobbying experience and strong relationships with legislators to good use.

EMBRACE TRANSPARENCY

After several years and countless requests to the administration to televise OHA meetings, in a way similar to what the Honolulu City Council or the State Legislature are doing, OHA has finally taken a step in the right direction.

OHA is now broadcasting live board meetings from Honolulu to Kauai.  Beneficiaries on Kauai should check OHA’s meeting notices or call 241-3390 to confirm whether there will be a live video conference broadcast to the Lihu’e State Office Building.

It is my hope that this will encourage the Administration to broadcast live OHA meetings to the other neighbor islands.  Broadcasting all of our meetings will not only make Trustees more accessible to beneficiaries, but it will also allow beneficiaries to see how our board conducts its business.  What a refreshing change that would be.  Aloha Ke Akua.