Crowded field vying for seats on OHA Board of Trustees

Eighteen candidates are vying for six seats in the primary election for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees, including a retired state senator, a former star University of Hawaii football player and all six incumbents.

But there will be a new face on the next version of the nine-member Board of Trustees because Brendon Kalei‘aina Lee is giving up his at-large position to run for the Oahu seat, which is now held by incumbent Kalei Akaka, who is running for reelection.

One candidate, incumbent Chair Carmen “Hulu” Lindsey, ran unopposed and will be automatically reelected. Her name will not appear on the Aug. 13 primary or Nov. 8 general election ballot.

For the Hawaii island seat, only incumbent Mililani Trask and Hope Cermelj are running, so they will go straight to November’s general election ballot.

For the three available at-large positions, 11 candidates are on the primary ballot, including incumbents Lei Ahu Isa and John Waihee IV. The top six candidates will advance to the general election ballot, unless a candidate receives 50% plus one vote, which will propel that person into office.

Four people are vying for the Oahu seat. Joining Akaka and Lee are Jackie Burke, an artist, musician and entrepreneur, and Robert Peters, a former music and drama director at Kameha­meha, Punahou and Nanakuli High School.

The top two Oahu seat candidates will advance to the general election ballot unless one candidate receives 50% plus one vote — if so, that candidate will be declared the winner.

Affordable housing and economic development are among the topics being discussed in this year’s OHA campaign. The board will also decide what to do with Legislature-approved funding increases in the coming year — from $15.1 million to $21.5 million in public trust land revenue. Additionally, OHA is receiving a one-time lump sum of $64 million, making the $21.5 million annual public land trust budget retroactive to 2012.

Akaka, granddaughter of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, was elected to the board in 2018, when she cruised past Esther Kia‘aina, who would go on to win a seat on the Honolulu City Council.

Lee, chair of ‘Aha 2016, which adopted a constitution for a Native Hawaiian government, finished in the third and final place for the at-large seat in 2018, edging incumbent Rowena Akana and former Land Board Chair William Aila, who now serves as state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands director.

Why did Lee switch from at-large to Oahu? He maintains that Akaka hasn’t done enough to reach out to the people she represents. He said the incumbent has failed to hold any community meetings on Oahu (outside the regular OHA board meetings) in the four years she has served.

Lee said previous Oahu trustees held community meetings to learn about what beneficiaries want, and he pledged to hold at least six such meetings a year in different regions of the island.

In response, Akaka said she had asked Colette Ma­cha­do, the late former chair, about holding those meetings and was told they were unnecessary because the board already holds its business meetings on Oahu, when anyone can address the board. Akaka said the current board chair, Lindsey, has agreed to allow such meetings, and some OHA site visits have already been scheduled.

If elected, Lee said he would fight to open planning for OHA’s Kakaako Makai properties to the entire board. At present, planning on the largely undeveloped property worth as much as $200 million is conducted by only four members in what is known as a permitted interaction group, or PIG.

In addition, Lee said that if it were up to him, he would replace Sylvia Hussey as CEO because of her “failed” effort to reorganize the OHA staff. He said the move to have employees reapply for their jobs has been “a complete disaster,” with nearly half of the staff moving on and hampering the work of the agency. “She let 100 years of institutional knowledge walk out the door,” he said.

Akaka said she supports the special committee’s work on Kakaako Makai because it allows for accelerated planning free of the limitations imposed by the state’s open-meetings law. She also backs Hussey. “I give her a lot of credit. She works really hard,” Akaka said, adding that OHA isn’t the only outfit having trouble keeping employees these days.

Akaka said she used her connections in the Legislature to help lobby for this year’s haul of funds, and she plans to continue working for OHA as chair of the Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment, focusing on legislative and advocacy efforts, health, education, housing, economic stability, human services, land use, environment, natural resources and more.

Burke, who has previously been a candidate for an OHA seat going back to 2004, said her priority is to advocate for removing the 50% blood quantum requirement for Hawaiian homesteads and other programs and replace it with a category simply called “Native Hawaiian.”

On his website, Peters said he would work to strengthen the overall wellness of Native Hawaiian families, children and communities, among other things.

The 11 at-large candidates:

>> Lei Ahu Isa. The vice chairwoman for OHA, who previously served in the state House of Representatives and on the Board of Education, pledged to carry out the board’s strategic plan, which gives OHA the ability to work on numerous initiatives, from education to health and culture.

Ahu Isa also said that with the Legislature approving $64 million, the board can focus on being even more productive and giving beneficiaries a solid core of assets into perpetuity.

>> Z. Kaapana Aki. The former OHA employee said his top priority would be to steer OHA in the direction of generating even more income beyond ceded-lands revenue. With more revenue, OHA will be able to embark on large-scale economic development that will create economic opportunities, Aki said.

OHA, he said, should invest millions into workforce development, the development of housing to alleviate the high cost of rent and mortgage payments, establish a rehabilitative lending process with low or no interest over longer terms at low payments, and encourage local entrepreneurship.

>> Julian Ako. The former Kamehameha Schools administrator said he would work to ensure that OHA receives the full 20% of the annual ceded-land revenues to which it is constitutionally entitled.

Ako added that he would work to ensure that OHA’s assets are managed prudently to bolster the economic well-being of Native Hawaiians and work with other entities to help accomplish those goals.

>> Brickwood Galuteria. The former state senator and veteran radio and TV personality said OHA must do more than it does now to accomplish its mandate of improving the lot of Native Hawaiians. And receiving past-due and increasing annual ceded-land revenues commensurate to constitutional requirements is a priority, he said, so that OHA can better address existing economic, health, social and educational disparities.

Galuteria, a member of the Oahu Island Burial Council and Kawaiaha‘o Church Board of Trustees, said his legislative experience will help strengthen OHA’s political effectiveness, and he urged Hawaiians to unite in a voting bloc that cannot be ignored.

>> U‘i Kahue-Cabanting. The Molokai kumu, cultural practitioner and community activist is the only one of the 11 at-large candidates who is not a resident of Oahu. She said she plans to support and empower community-based programs working on OHA priorities in their own communities.

>> Sam Kalanikupua King. The Honolulu attorney and Thirty Meter Telescope advocate said he would work to improve the conditions of Native Hawaiians through building homes and diversifying the economy — and that includes working with industries that perpetuate astronomy, celestial navigation and natural observation. He said he also plans to fight corruption and waste inside OHA.

King said OHA should support early childhood education as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty and bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians. He wants OHA to partner with organizations already working in this area, including Kameha­meha Schools, the state Department of Education, public charter schools and nonprofit organizations.

>> Kealii Makekau. Makekau, who works in building management and transportation, said OHA should attack the problems that Native Hawaiians face by awarding grants to proven nonprofits and working with stakeholders in the community statewide. He would also push OHA to use its lands to create housing projects.

Makekau said he would expand the board’s standing committees to include two more that directly address issues like housing, health care and education.

>> John D. Waihee IV. The son of former Gov. John Waihee touts his 22 years of experience on the board as an asset in being able to prudently invest beneficiary assets. He said that as chairman of OHA’s Committee on Resource Management, OHA consistently increased its grants budget while lowering total operating costs. What’s more, as chair of the Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment, OHA saw several of its most successful legislative sessions in terms of board initiatives signed into law.

Waihee said his top priority is housing. OHA should advocate for more public housing in Hawaiian communities at the state level and partner with agencies such as the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. More grants, he said, should be given to nonprofit agencies that help get people into homes.

>> William Paik. The retired businessman and Hawaii Pacific University lecturer told OHA’s Ka Wai Ola publication that the cost of real estate is one of the biggest challenges to housing. He said Kamehameha Schools, with its vast land holdings, and DHHL, along with state lawmakers, could be partners in the campaign to address the issue.

>> Chad Owens. The former standout University of Hawaii and Canadian Football League player said his experience in athletics has taught him leadership skills that will help him work hard on behalf of Native Hawaiian beneficiaries. He said he would be a valuable member of a team that aims to address such issues as affordable housing and coping with the high cost of living.

In addition, Owens said he has a passion for health and wellness, and he’d like to spark the same passion within the Hawaiian people. “You can’t thrive if you’re unhealthy,” he said.

>> Keoni Souza. On his website, the Realtor and musician said he would fight for Native Hawaiians in the areas of education, health care, affordable housing, economic self­sufficiency and economic development.