Name on ballot:

Kealii Makekau

Running for:

OHA At-Large Trustee

Political party:

No answer submitted

Campaign website:

Kealii Makekau for OHA via facebook

Current occupation:

Building management/Transportation

Age:

51

Previous job history:

12 years in Hotel service. 5 years at YMCA

Previous elected office, if any:

None

Please describe your qualifications to represent the people of Hawaii.

I’m well versed in Hawaii’s government structure and constitutional authority. I’m Extremely familiar with OHA and its operation, especially duties and obligations surrounding the trustee position. I have a common sense approach and promote tremendous amount of accountability and transparency for the people to be involved in the decision process. I already have a track record on Hawaiian issues going back to 2012 when i ran for office my first time which i stand by and encourage voters to review.

What will be your top priority if elected?

Lack of Housing, education, land management, healthcare, fiscal resilience and
economic sustainability of native Hawaiian assets sadly are all rolled into one.
OHAS mandate is to improve the well being of Native Hawaiians. Dealing with
complex issues like this OHA could start reducing these conditions with awarding
grants to proven non-profits and working with creditable stakeholders in the
community statewide. With OHA being the 13th largest landowner in the state it is
in a position to start its own housing/residential project and provided assistance
to this much needed and long overdue endeavor.

What is one specific change you would like to see in OHA’s operations and what would you do to make it happen?

Expand the standing committees to include two more that directly address issues like housing, health care and education. This will show and directly address these issues with all stakeholders present and empowered to contribute in the discussions.

What should OHA do to help alleviate homelessness and increase home ownership among Native Hawaiians?

With OHA being the 13th largest landowner in the state it is
in a position to start its own housing/residential project and provided assistance
to this much needed and long overdue endeavor. Proper and best use of land holdings like Kakaako Makai have to happen to ensure financial sustainability to fund housing initiatives either from OHA or other developers.

What reforms, if any, would you propose to make OHA more transparent to the public?

Adding a internal auditor position to serve under the CFO. This position would allow for wide-range oversight over all financial dealings at OHA and address questionable practices and protect staffers from penalties or retaliation tactics. This auditor would report to the OHA BOT directly and make his findings available to the state auditor!

Do you support or oppose the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on the Big Island and what should OHA’s role be in the process?

No support. Until such time that four perhaps five of the obsolete telescopes are
decommission and removed, followed buy a EIS of the area, and then
implementation of a community based transition plan both current and post,
detailing the provisions in a master lease. New members to the 11 positions
appointed buy the governor and confirmed buy the senate is needed not a
recycling of the old one must happen first. OHA needs to have two seats on that 11 member position.

What is the most pressing need for the people you seek to represent and what can the Office of Hawaiian Affairs do to address that need?


Providing resources to address the issue of governance via self determination. For over a decade and a half OHA has questionably funded projects only for federal recognition to see no returns and no accounting of said funding. But little if no efforts have been made to approach, identify and understand the legality of the overthrow and legal status surrounding native Hawaiians from then to now.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

I’m not a big name recognition candidate nor I’m am I a failed politician seeking to restart a career in elective office. Just a regular guy with a simple conservative approach to matters of public office. A saint louis grad and student/friend of the late John Keola Lake in Hawaiian culture and protocols. Getting passed the OHA primary bill, getting an independent financial audit passed at the BOT, identifying the flaws with Kakaako Makai properties and advocating for real, thought provoking and productive annalists on what and would be a process on sovereignty is what I’ve done and offer the lahui and much more. I humbly ask for your vote. Mahalo….