Community Support for OHA Bottoms Out

Over 70 people walk out of the public meeting.

The annual Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) event on Molokai usually draws beneficiaries who express their gratitude and praise for OHA support. But this year’s event was characterized by frustration and discontent when at least 70, out of roughly 100 people, abruptly walked out midway through the meeting.

At last year’s OHA meeting, more than 100 people asked in unison that OHA withdraw support for Molokai Ranch’s plans to develop La`au Point. Former OHA trustee and Hawaiian Rights Activist, Walter Ritte claimed that in the year since the last meeting, OHA has done nothing to respond to community pleas.

“This shows lack of respect for our community by OHA. The trustees of OHA should be ashamed of their treatment of their Molokai constituents” scolded Ritte during a prepared speech.

OHA trustees, including Molokai’s Colette Machado, argue that the organization simply supports the “community process” involved in the Ranch’s development plan.

But community leader, Bridget Mowat, and others, were infuriated to learn that OHA had awarded $100,000 to the Molokai Land trust. The trust is a private non-profit entity that will receive over 25,000 acres of gifted lands from Molokai Ranch should the La`au Development go through.

Because Machado is an OHA trustee, president of the Molokai Land Trust, and a board member of the Molokai Enterprise Community (a federally funded organization also partnering in the La`au development), some are crying foul.

“It’s like she wrote a check to herself.  Conflicts of interest seem to be running rampant nowadays,” commented Mowat in an opinion letter.

Machado said the people who left the meeting should be ashamed for walking away “like spoiled brats.”