For nearly a decade, I have attended Office of Hawaiian Affairs board meetings, reviewed meeting packets, testified before the board, and advocated as an OHA beneficiary.

This election, Native Hawaiian beneficiaries and the public are being asked to entrust incumbent Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees with another four years of stewardship over our constitutional public trust.

Campaigns will naturally focus on promises for the future. But before we look forward, I believe we should honestly examine the public record of the trustees’ actions during the current term.

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The ongoing litigation involving former OHA CEO Stacy Ferreira has brought unprecedented governance questions into public view. Those questions involve the management and oversight of OHA’s more than $130 million biennium budget, allegations of harassment and intimidation, Sunshine Law compliance, whistleblower retaliation, and the governance of a constitutional public trust.

The courts — not voters — will determine whether the legal claims asserted in the lawsuit are ultimately proven. Every party deserves due process, and no one should be judged solely on allegations.

But elections ask a different question.

They ask whether those seeking another term have demonstrated the judgment, stewardship, and leadership worthy of continued public trust.

That is why I believe beneficiaries and the public should carefully review two public court filings: Docket 131, Stacy Ferreira’s First Amended Complaint, and Docket 162, the Answer filed by Trustees Carmen Hulu Lindsey, Kalei Akaka, Keliʻi Akina, and Luana Alapa. (The dockets are below.)

Together, these public filings present an extraordinary circumstance.

Rather than simply denying every allegation, Docket 162 admits numerous factual allegations contained in Docket 131 while denying others and providing additional factual context. Whether those admissions ultimately affect the outcome of the litigation will be decided by the courts.

Regardless of the legal outcome, however, the filings raise important governance questions that beneficiaries and the public should not ignore.

Fiduciary Stewardship

OHA is unlike any other public agency in Hawaiʻi.

It is a constitutional public trust established to serve Native Hawaiians. Trustees are entrusted with responsibilities that extend beyond ordinary decision-making. They are expected to exercise fiduciary stewardship over trust resources and maintain the confidence of the beneficiaries they serve.

For that reason, I believe this election should not be driven primarily by campaign slogans or endorsements. It should be driven by fiduciary stewardship.

Beneficiaries and the public have every right to ask:

• Did trustees strengthen public confidence in OHA?
• Did they demonstrate transparency?
• Did they exercise independent judgment when difficult decisions arose?
• Did they foster trust in the governance of an institution created to serve Native Hawaiians?

These are questions of accountability.

Three incumbent at-large trustees and two incumbent island trustees are asking beneficiaries and the public to renew their trust for another term. Every incumbent deserves the opportunity to explain and defend the decisions made during this board term. Likewise, every beneficiary and the public deserves the opportunity to evaluate those decisions using publicly available records.

The public record today includes board meeting videos, meeting packets, court filings, and official votes. Voters no longer need to rely solely on campaign literature or political endorsements. We can examine the record ourselves.

As voters, we should not approach this election as a popularity contest or a referendum on personalities.
We should approach it as voters entrusted with choosing the stewards of a constitutional public trust.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs does not belong to any trustee. It belongs to the beneficiaries.

Trustees temporarily hold positions of public trust on our behalf. Every election provides the opportunity to decide whether that trust has been faithfully honored.

Before we cast our ballots, I encourage every voter to review the public record, read the court filings, watch the Board meetings, and make an informed decision based upon the actions of those asking to continue serving us.

The future of OHA will not be determined by campaign slogans alone. It will be determined by whether voters choose stewardship over politics, accountability over personalities, and evidence over assumptions.

Our kūpuna left us a legacy worth protecting. The constitutional public trust they envisioned deserves trustees who will faithfully honor that legacy for today’s beneficiaries and for generations yet to come.