By Yasmin Anwar
Advertiser Staff Writer
A state audit of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has revealed sweeping examples of financial and organizational mismanagement that led to investment portfolio losses, spending abuses and poor staff morale.
But perhaps the audit’s most troubling indictment of OHA is the attitude of beneficiaries surveyed for the report.
According to the audit, 40 percent of the 162 beneficiaries who responded to the survey said they did not understand OHA’s purpose, and 30 percent said OHA has been very ineffective in meeting the needs of Native Hawaiians.
"Trustees act for the betterment of themselves rather than the Hawaiian community," wrote one respondent. "They are too busy positioning themselves and flaunting rather than making actual efforts to identify issues and solve problems."
Such is the sea of troubles confronting the 2001 board of trustees as they strive to raise the agency’s credibility here in the wake of a scathing state audit and struggle with lawsuits that charge that OHA is unconstitutional.
Released to the public yesterday, Marion Higa’s second audit of OHA takes the agency to task for poor planning, fiscal mismanagement, inadequate oversight of grants and loan programs, and a hasty reorganization of administrative staff.
Specifically, the report found that from 1996 to 1999, some trustees used their annual $7,200 expense accounts for personal gain.
Two trustees used their allowances to make interest-free loans to themselves and family members amounting to more than $8,000.
$1,000 on beauty salon
Another trustee spent upward of $1,000 on beauty salon services over a three-year period. Rowena Akana, who was OHA chairwoman in 1999, said she repaid the money as soon as she was told that it was an improper use of her personal allowance.
The audit also found that a 1999 administrative reorganization led to an organizational crisis and exodus of key staff.
Some employees were not qualified for their new assignments and, in at least one case, the job description was tailored for the employee.
Instead of taking a defensive stand, OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona says the board is using the audit as a roadmap for the future. In the past two months, trustees have been holding strategic planning meetings to formulate a master plan.
Though the report was prepared specifically for the governor and the Legislature, there were few, if any, signs yesterday that the OHA audit was resounding in the halls of the state Capitol.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ben Cayetano said he had not yet read the report.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Ed Case, D-23rd (Manoa), said he expects lawmakers to take a hands-off approach to OHA in the wake of the audit.
"The solutions to these problems lie within the Hawaiian community, not with the state Legislature," said Case, who wants the state to cut ties with OHA to give the agency more autonomy.
OHA was created in 1978 as an amendment to the Hawai‘i Constitution, to be financed by revenues from former crown lands that have been converted into a public trust.
Higa's audits called frequently harsh
Traditionally, politicians have stayed out of OHA affairs out of respect for the independence and history of Hawaiians, said Dan Boylan, a University of Hawai‘i history professor and political commentator.
"Most mainline politicians are pretty loath to get involved in the use of OHA money and what they choose to do with it, save outright criminality," Boylan said.
He notes that Higa’s audits are frequently harsh.
Rather than being punitive, however, the audits can serve as a guide for organizations that need to clean up their act.
Still, many OHA beneficiaries say they see the agency as an arm of the state and want to know how the state is going to solve the problems.
"We’ve been talking about these problems for years," said Lela Hubbard, a retired teacher who regularly attends OHA board meetings.
Charles Rose, president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, said he hopes OHA trustees take the audit’s recommendations seriously.
Rose said he’s not ready to give up on the agency or its leaders.
"Nine people got elected — not just by Hawaiians - to serve the Hawaiian beneficiaries," he said. "Until a law says they’re invalid, we must honor their choices and offer them any help they need to get the job done."
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