Shakeup of OHA leadership in works
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
It appears that Clayton Hee, chairman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, is being ousted once again in another sudden shift of leadership in the agency created to help people of Hawaiian ancestry.
Advertiser library photo • Nov. 28, 2000
Big Island homesteader Linda Dela Cruz, 71, a singer once known as "Hawai'i's canary," now is siding with Hee's four opponents in a move to re-elect trustee Haunani Apoliona as chairwoman, Apoliona said.
Clayton Hee replaced Haunani Apoliona as OHA chair last September.
Dela Cruz' vote was crucial to Hee's return to the chairmanship in voting among trustees Sept. 25.
The new majority issued a press release yesterday saying it was scheduling a meeting next Wednesday for elections among the trustees "after five months of inactivity and instability in the current political leadership."
Hee, the top vote-getter among candidates running for OHA trustee and a likely candidate for lieutenant governor this year, pointed yesterday to his record of advancing a manufactured housing project, seeking compensation for astronomers' use of Mauna Kea, land acquisition moves and proposed new home financing for Hawaiians.
All of it hardly suggested inactivity, he said.
He said the result of next week's voting among trustees will not be a foregone conclusion and he would try to talk to board members in the meantime. But he acknowledged that apparently "the die has been cast."
It had been tough to work with a 5-to-4 majority, Hee said, but he predicted that the new chairwoman will have to work with the same numerical division.
Apoliona said trustee John Waihe'e IV has indicated a willingness to work with her and her backers.
Advertiser library photo • Aug. 13, 2001
Apoliona succeeded Hee in the chair in January last year and lasted nine months until trustees elected Hee in September.
Trustees are to choose leader next week, and Haunani Apoliona said many are backing her.
Dela Cruz will be vice chairwoman of the board of trustees and chairwoman of the program management committee under the new lineup proposed by the Apoliona majority.
Waihe'e is listed for a chairmanship of policy and planning.
Apoliona said Hee's initiatives have generated media attention but not results.
Dela Cruz could not be reached yesterday, but Apoliona said Dela Cruz had apparently become disenchanted with Hee's leadership during the past several months.
Trustee Rowena Akana, however, said Dela Cruz told her she was upset because Hee wanted to hold a board meeting in Hana and she didn't want to travel there.
Others calling for the reorganization were trustees Oswald Stender, Donald Cataluna and Colette Machado, who sided with Apoliona before.
They will all head committees in the new lineup; Hee, trustee Charles Ota and Akana will not head committees if the reorganization is approved as proposed.
Akana, now vice chairwoman, appeared stunned at a legislative hearing on OHA bills yesterday when Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo), whipped out a copy of the press release by OHA's new majority and said he understood the leadership was about to change.
Akana said the surprise announcement was both rude and sad, "and makes us look foolish." She accused the new majority of sitting on their hands during Hee's chairmanship.
OHA was created by a 1978 amendment to the Hawai'i Constitution, to help Hawaiians, using revenue from former crown lands.
The statewide balloting to choose trustees had been open only to people of Hawaiian ancestry until a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year opened it to all.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
