Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 8, 1 August 1999 — Is it prudence or self-service? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Is it prudence or self-service?

KE ALOHA mai e nā 'ōiwi o Hawai'i. This is my 36th article in the series of 46. Last month, my article, "Trustee retirement: At what cost to the trust?" highhghted my concems regarding laek of beneficiary/pubhc review. Trustees were poised to act even though no information on cost was disclosed in the material given to trustees for deliberation, and Trustees Akana, Hao, Hee, Keale, Springer and Trask voted "yes." I voted "no". On June 22, members of the Committee on Budget and Finance took aehon on trust funds appropriation for FY 19992000. Item 71xl,Tmstee Retirement, listed the amount $35,000. Trustee Machado and I questioned the laek of written details and justifications for the $35,000 price tag as well as how this "tmstee retirement" would be implemented. During discussion the committee chairperson advised members that the tmstee retirement item at this time would likely apply to only one trustee. Trustee Machado and I refused to support this hne item in the budget. Because a majority of Budget and Finance Committee members voted "yes" on this item, it remained in the FY 19992000 budget document. On June 24, OHA's Board of Tmstees met to take final action on the OHA bud-

get document for FY 1999-2000 tmst funding. Trustee retirement remained embedded in the document on page two. The mohon was made to authorize and

approve $4.6 milhon of trust funding, including tmstee retirement. I sought to amend the motion by taking up the question of the tmstee retirement, item 71x1, separately. I stated that independent treatment of this issue would allow individual trastees to be accountable for their vote specific to the tmstee retirement hne item. The mohon to separate out the item failed by one vote, with Trustees DeSoto, Machado, Springer and I votins "ves" to the

amendment and Tmstees Hao, Hee, Keale, Trask and Akana voting "no". The amendment failed and the

Tmstee Retirement remained imbedded in the budget document. Because of our continued opposition to the manner and method of inclusion of the Tmstee Retirement hne item, Tmstees DeSoto, Maehado and I could not vote yes on the budget document.

We filed a written dissent for the record and the BOT's minutes. In relevant part we said, "All the current and past OHA trustees chose to ran for the elected office of trustee and ah were aware that the position did not include retirement. As fiduciaries of this trust more prudent strategies should be

pursued to determine whether or

not OHA trastees should have a retirement program and the amount of compensation or benefit, if any. More prudent strategies such as, to eontinue to pursue the legislature for a law change on OHA trustee retirement whieh would allow for a great deal of public

input, or to set up a commission to seek beneficiary input to make decisions regarding a tmstee retirement program, similar to the salary commission designed to review OHA trustee salaries should eonhnue to be pursued." On June 24, as part of the community concerns on the BOT agenda, OHA beneficiairv Richard Kinnev.

of the Hawaiian Poliheal Action Oouneil of Hawai'i, presented written testimony OPPOSING the tmstee retirement item. He said, "No OHA trustee past or present, has earned any type of retirement payoff payment. All trastees were elected to this office to be servants of the beneficiaries of this office." He stated further, "This retirement payoff payment is designed to strengthen the present secretive, divisive and punitive style of leadership of this board. A very dangerous brand of leadership that threatens the inherent sovereign right of the beneficiaries of this office." He closed saying, "This plan further sets a very dangerous precedence for further PAYOFFS to any trastees in the future. What is pood for one tnistee should he

good for all tmstees in the future. All of you were elected to this office to be servants to the beneficiaries of this office, not as self-servants to your special interests." ■

"All the current and past OHA trustees chose to run for the elected office of trustee and all were aware that the position did not include retirement."

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