Last chance to dig out of hole

Hawaii’s State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) was warned more than a decade ago that mismanagement had created a risk in losing federal grants, but little has been done in all that time to correct the problems. Failure to take firm steps before and after Pua Aiu was named administrator of the division five years ago has increased the risk, and her resignation this week was necessary.

William Aila, director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which includes the preservation division, on Tuesday announced Aiu’s resignation. In a critical report last week, the National Park Service found that Aiu "has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of understanding" of the office’s budget, basic hiring procedures and staff time and attendance.

Those problems did not begin with Aiu in charge, but they must end. The state auditor issued a report in 2002 of mismanagement of the agency that could result in risk for matching grants that the Park Service now estimates at more than $1.1 million a year. In 2004 and 2007, the U.S. Department of Interior’s inspector general found that the state agency had neglected to correct the problems.

A year after Aiu took the job in 2008, a federal team of historic preservation professionals found that "significant operational problems" with activities required by Interior remained at the Hawaii preservation agency.

These deficiencies, and failure to correct them, go beyond mere mismanagement within a state agency. SHPD is charged with protecting Hawaii’s historic and cultural treasures, and as such, is a required stop for a myriad of projects that involves federal funding such as Oahu’s rail project and other transportation and development projects.

In addition to the potential loss of matching funds, says the federal Park Service, dire consequences of a discredited state Historic Preservation Program could include:

» Uncertainty over compliance with federal and state preservation laws causing serious delays in economic stimulus and other federally funded construction projects.

» Delays in properties’ inclusion on historic preservation rolls, which affect tax incentives.

» Result in "irreparable harm" to significant historic properties.

A Park Service team assigned to Honolulu last year determined that some improvement had been made but activities "critical" to all the state agency’s activities "made little progress," according to last week’s Interior report. In more than 50 areas where "corrective action plans" that the Park Service deemed were needed, the team found only 14 had been "achieved and completed." That is dismal.

The Park Service’s report also said the state agency’s morale continued to be "very low" and that "recruitment is significantly affected" by Aiu’s presence.

Aila said at a news conference that the agency "accomplished a lot more than we’ve been given credit for" and that references to Aiu were "unkind." He also said he has to take responsibility for the correction plan not being met, and expects within a year to correct the Park Service-identified deficiencies. With so much at stake, he should be held to his promise.

The Park Service plans to assess progress after May 2014 and then make another evaluation, which gives Aila and Aiu’s successor a reprieve to make the crucial improvements.

"It is, and always has been, a challenge for the Hawaii SHPD to fulfill both the mandates of a very strong historic preservation law at the state level and the federal program areas, particularly when it is dependent on the staffing levels allowed by the Legislature," the Park Service noted. "The diversity and volume of project reviews strains the program but is also very important. That said, with adequate staff and program management and oversight it should be possible to balance the competing yet complementary interests."

Such optimism must become the mantra for SHPD’s entire team, starting with its new administrator, for the sake of Hawaii’s preservation policies and the many projects affected by them.