Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 5, 1 May 1999 — OHA procurement problems: Fact vs. fiction [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA procurement problems: Fact vs. fiction

READING THROUGH trustee articles is like treading through a flooded river. There is a constant rush of information, and the facts are often hidden by a tangled mixture of words washed into the stream from street gutters. Patience, however, helps in distinguishing fact from fiction. In this ealm before the next storm, I offer facts that may have been drowned by the raging rivers of past months. The procurement code was created to ensure that all state agencies act responsibly in their spending and hiring. Most agencies are careful to follow the procurement codes to avoid the appearance of impropriety. However, OHA trustees learned in January that the OHA Budget and Finance Chair may have acted improperly by meddling with the estabhshed hiring and procurement process regarding an OHA consultant. Several trustees (including myself) repeatedly asked whether Hee's ill-

advised actions violated the procurement laws. We insisted on a full BOT review to protect the already tainted hiring process. Inresponse, Trustee Hee accused me of being ignorant, "insecure and paranoid." On Feb. 2, Trustee Hee denied any improprieties. Hee claimed the Procurement Ollīee supported his questionable actions and exonerated him from any habihty. Hee's memo also ridiculed me, charging that I was a "school yardbuhy." TrusteeHee

advised all trustees to eah the Procurement Ofihce for the facts and even gave us the phone number. Chairman Akana defended the Budget and Finance chair's actions by assuring OHA trustees there were no improprieties. As the river conhnued to rage, I wondered whether anyone really knew fact lfom fiction. I took Trustee Hee's advice and cahed the Procurement 0£5ce. To everyone's surprise, the Procurement Office told a story quite di£ferent ffom Trustee Hee's. On March 3, the Administrator of the State Procurement Ofifice "strongly urge[d] that the OHA board investigate

l and/or consider redoing the procurement in a controlled environI ment,free from possi- | ble negative implieations." He also stated that he was "very troubled by [Ti"ustee Hee's] attempts to use our services for the perceived pohheal in-fighting within OHA ... My comments made during a telephone conversation [with Trustee Hee] were intended to clarify a simation as it was pre- | sented; however, those comments should not

be regarded in an authoritative manner as imphed in the memorandum ." Unable to stop the flood of facts, Chair Akana started an "invesrigation" of Hee's alleged procurement improprieties. Unfortunately, Akana refused to bring the matter before the BOT and ignored the Procurement Office's recommendations. I wrote another memo cautioning trustees that the OHA consultant search was "seriously tainted with the appearance of impropriety." Akana argued those concerns were "inconsistent with our fiduciary responsibihties." She stated the Procurement

Office "did not even raise an inference that the process was tainted." However, the Procurement Office noted that "ifit were my house, I woulā reopen the bidding process to avoid the appearance of impropriety." Again, the facts were drowned by the stormy pohtical tides. To no one's surprise, Trustee Akana closed her investigation claiming there were no procurement problems. Akana then tried to silence me by threatening that my claims "are prematurely conclusive and damaging, and could invite unwarranted and ffivolous htigation." From her threat, I learned another important fact: Akana's "investigation" was pailial and biased. How wih the OHA trust and Native Hawahan beneficiaries be affected? Without the facts, we may never truly know the efifects of this decision. Sadly, this is not the first time something like this has happened. In fact, this is just the tip of the iceberg! As the storm strengthens and more facts are lost, I ask that ah beneficiaries not give up their rights to the raging rivers of OHA. The time will eome when the waters will ealm; when the po'o wai wih be reopened and the 'auwai will bring f£esh water to the lo'i. In these ealm waters we will clearly recognize that the floods are temporary distractions and wih never be so overwhelming they stop the steady flow of the river of truth. E 'onipa'a kākou! ■

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TRUSTEE MESSAGES

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