Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 12, 1 December 2007 — Myriad of issues tackled by OHA Board [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Myriad of issues tackled by OHA Board

As I sit here on a beautiful Sabbath morning with classical music in the background and a view of Central Maui through the trees and green grass helow me, I surely must count my blessings and the fact that I have been given the privilege of life itself. Indeed, I appreciate my birth as an American citizen and a Native Hawaiian but mostly as a child of God. America has given me the freedom to choose; Hawai'i my identification and heritage; and God the promise of life eternal. It seems that sometimes we tend to isolate our frames of reference and narrow our minds to the seemingly important but actually insignificant and immaterial matters of our times. The Board has considered many issues recently, some significant and some not. We have given millions in grants in the past month to non-profits, have seen the House of Representatives pass the Akaka Bill, and have continued to organize ourselves internally to meet coming challenges with our lands, investments and housing. Unfortunately, we still face criticism for actions whieh people latch onto that in the grand scheme of things are simply manini or perhaps unjustly motivated and waste mueh energy and resources; nevertheless, we seek the betterment of our people through actions that we believe will benefit as many as possible with the interests of all in mind. I have sought to exercise patience and offer prayer in my dealings with the Board and others and have been pleasantly surprised at the results over the past five years. I feel as though the Board has progressed from its birth in 1980 through its trials and challenges into its maturity and now into the autumn

years approaching its dissolution and removal as the organization designated to help and represent Hawaiians. This will be ultimately good for Hawaii only if the Akaka Bill passes and a new entity elected by the Hawaiian people is born and begins another cycle of life and the continuation of our people, our culture, our traditions, and our identity. In the meantime, we need to onee and for all commit to keeping our people in Hawai'i by providing affordable housing. The reasons for not securing housing are tired and worn out already and OHA must dive into this serious problem. Drugs continue to destroy families and hurt our community and OHA has an opportunity to finally address this issue head on but will need action now and not more studies. Our new revolving business loan program has been launched and needs to achieve success so that we ean adjust its requirements to better meet the needs of our entrepreneurs and others who qualify. Our land policy is being completed and will help us to preserve and manage areas for the future. We eontinue to seek resolution of past due ceded lands revenues from the state, whieh will help us to provide more benefits to our beneficiaries. And finally, our investment strategies always need updating and improvements and OHA involvement in businesses, leases, etc. is something we need to consider now. They say mueh too often that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and some seem to adopt that as their naUonal anthem; however, it is the quiet but effective wheels that keep us going and they need upkeep and maintenance. These are they who are the peacemakers and faithful who are willing to be patient, thankful, and prayerful rather than loud, rude and egotistic. Truly they seek the light of Christ and may we do so also during this special season. Merry Christmas and let us anticipate the best for 2008. ^

LEO 'ELELE ■ TRUSTEE M ESSAGES —

Bnyd P. Mūssman TrustEE, Maui