Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 2, 1 February 1999 — SHUT OUT? [ARTICLE]

SHUT OUT?

I deeply regret that I and my fellow sovereigns are looked upon as enemies by the present leadership of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Having poliee security at the board meetings should not be supported by the full Board of Trustees, let alone by the beneficiaries of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. I find the actions of the present leadership, trustees elected by the Hawaiian community, to be very anti-Hawaiian in many ways. It is a sad time for all of us who want justice for the wrongs done to our people. In the past, I and other beneficiaries have asked the board to allow beneficiaries to express their concerns to the board. To deny any Hawaiian beneficiary the inherent sovereign right to address the board on any subject is to deny justice to Hawaiians. In the past, OHA beneficiaries were always allowed to express their concerns to the board. We were always grateful for the openness and aloha of the past board. It is this type of openness and aloha for all beneficiaries that I am eon-

cerned will be something of the past with the present leadership. Richard Kinney Hawaiian Political Action Council of Hawai'i The gestapo-like tactics of the leadership, whieh Colette Machado enumerated in her trustee message, are designed to thwart rather than aid the beneficiaries. It is not OHA as an office that is to be held accountable for the diminishment of the Hawaiian people, but the trustees themselves. In the messages of the trustees, it appears Apoliona and Maehado are the two that are truly concerned about the beneficiaries. It is apparent the majority have their own personal agendas and are intent on seeing them through to fruition. OHA is an autonomous entity established for the beneficiaries, not for the Board of Trustees. The board is in flagrant violation when the doors and services are closed to beneficiaries for whom OHA was created. If the board represents the administration, who represents the beneficiaries? The closed door policy of the new administration justifies suit by the beneficiaries. Madonna M. Dizon via the lnternet