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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Monday, August 18, 2003

EDITORIAL
OHA can make a difference for all

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has had a rocky couple of decades, what with all the legal disputes, power struggles and leadership changes.

But gradually, this unique state function appears to be stabilizing, maturing and making contributions to the community at large.

One such example is OHA's plan to allot $500,000 to Waimea Falls Park to finance studies of the historic 1,876-acre valley's archaeological and cultural resources.

The city awarded the Audubon Society the contract to manage the park, owned by New York developer Christian Wolffer, after it filed suit to acquire the spectacular North Shore property via condemnation. Right now, the acquisition is mired in court because of disputes over land values.

Nonetheless, OHA appears to be moving ahead so that at least some of the society's projects can begin. In the old days, such an effort would have been paralyzed by dysfunctional bureaucracy and an unwillingness to commit money.

And so we commend OHA for taking a can-do attitude in the case of the park. It's also worth noting that OHA and other Hawai'i organizations receive tens of millions of federal dollars a year to finance a plethora of programs that help Native Hawaiians.

One way or another, these benefits trickle down to all of Hawai'i. Now, if federal monies to Hawaiian programs dry up, either the state taxpayers would have to make up the difference or the programs would disappear. We welcome neither option.

As the Waimea project demonstrates, there's no reason why the relationship between OHA and the non-Hawaiian community cannot be mutually beneficial.