OHA Kicks Off Series of Neighbor Island Meetings, Lanai Next

OHA Chief Advocate Esther Kiaaina updates Native Hawaiians on Kauai on the successes and disappointments of the 2011 legislative session.

By Sonia Isotov

The Board of Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs traveled to Kaua‘i last week for the first in a series of five community meetings with Native Hawaiians on the Neighbor Islands.

According to OHA Chairperson Colette Machado, Lanai will be the next stop for the Trustees, who will meet with Native Hawaiians on that island June 15-16 before heading to Molokai in July, Maui in August, then the Big Island in September.

The community meetings include a 2011 legislative update.

The Kauai community meeting – hosted by Trustee Donald B. Cataluna – drew a crowd of nearly 40 people to the King Kaumualii School cafeteria on Kauai. Organizations receiving support as well as their clients will spoke to the Board of Trustees.

OHA, under the direction of its nine trustees elected statewide, is charged with the betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiian. The Board of Trustees is responsible for setting OHA policy and managing the agency’s trust.