OHA Ceded Land Settlement Misleading & Manipulative
OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona and Administrator Clyde Namu‘o fully intended on excluding Native Hawaiian senators and beneficiaries in any discussions or informational sessions pertaining to the Ceded Land Settlement, prior to OHA’s press conference on Friday, the 18th of January. At 8:41 am on the morning of the press conference, Namu‘o, via his administrative assistant, sent an email to OHA staff that stated, “It is regrettable that the information was leaked, as we had wanted, out of respect and courtesy, to first inform you and a number of stakeholders in the Hawaiian community.”
If Apoliona and Namu‘o had honestly intended to “first inform OHA staff and a number of stakeholders,” several open meetings and debriefings would have occurred prior to OHA’s Ceded Land Settlement press conference. Even more appalling is Namu‘o’s clear intention to exclude the majority of Hawaiian beneficiaries from being first informed about the Ceded Land Settlement, clearly noted in his reference to “a number of stakeholders in the Hawaiian community.” Who are these particular “stakeholders,” Namu‘o refers to in his exclusionary statement?
It was clearly not those beneficiaries who attempted to attend an OHA Ceded Land Settlement debriefing on the 17th of January at the State Capitol, because an estimated 20 to 30 Hawaiian beneficiaries were asked to leave the meeting room that day. Eventually, OHA and state representatives exited through a back door and held the meeting in an undisclosed location. The group of Hawaiian beneficiaries discovered the meeting was being held in the basement of the State Capitol, but only after the meeting had ended. Namu‘o added insult to injury on the 18th of January by telling an audience of 20 to 30 Hawaiian beneficiaries (several of those in attendance were Hawaiian elders) that their (oppositional) voice could be heard at the Legislature at hearings for the bill. Namu‘o has obviously forgotten that he and OHA serve all Hawaiians and each Hawaiian beneficiary is an equal stakeholder, including the two Native Hawaiian senators that he intentionally neglected to inform.
It is also a known fact that Namu‘o on several occasions has referred to Senators English and Hee, as “no friend of OHA.” One can speculate that Namu‘o refers to the senators as “no friend of OHA,” because they understand OHA’s mandate to better the conditions of both native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian community in general and will hold OHA accountable to that mandate without being swayed by Namu‘o and OHA’s “smooth talk.”
Beneficiaries and concerned public do not be further misled by OHA’s campaign to inform beneficiaries and the general public about the Ceded Land Settlement, because OHA’s true intent is to persuade you to support the Ceded Land Settlement. If the informational campaign were not about persuading you to support the Ceded Land Settlement, OHA would have included beneficiaries and the general public in the process prior to the Ceded Land Settlement press conference held on January 18, 2008. OHA would have also required the State to submit an audit on all gross revenues generated through the Ceded Lands and completed a needs assessment prior to agreeing upon the proposed Ceded Land Settlement. A needs assessment pertaining to Hawaiian beneficiaries would have prepared OHA with data needed to negotiate a Ceded Land Settlement that would demonstrate a direct and positive impact on the Hawaiian community and the State.
If OHA cannot persuade you to support the Ceded Land Settlement through their “little to late” informational campaign and you are an individual or organization deemed important, OHA can “buy” your support. It has been recently revealed that the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, after a presentation by Namu‘o and Jonathan Scheuer (OHA Land Management Director), is supporting the Ceded Land Settlement without the consent of its membership. Not so surprising, days after the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs agreed to support the Ceded Land Settlement, Wayne Kaho‘onei Panoke announced to several individuals that the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs would be receiving a grant estimated between $40,000 to $50,000 to support activities in celebration of Prince Kuhio. The deal was brokered immediately after OHA received support from the leadership of the Association of Hawaiian Civic, pertaining to the Ceded Land Settlement.
It is also quite ironic that OHA will be funding $40,000 to $50,000 in grant funds; after they declined several fiscal year 2008 grant applicants. Did the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs submit a 2008 grant application by the required deadline? If so, was their application treated the same as all other fiscal year 2008 grant application, subject to review by OHA and the community?
The only way beneficiaries and the community at-large can be assured that OHA is not “buying” support for the Ceded Land Settlement and their 2008 Legislative Package is to call for a forensic audit of OHA, an OHA oversight committee, and removal of OHA’s current leadership. Until that time, let’s say “NO to OHA.”
