Hawaii
Candidate Q&A: Office Of Hawaiian Affairs At-Large Trustee — Peter Apo
![Candidate Q&A: Office Of Hawaiian Affairs At-Large Trustee — Peter Apo](https://d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net/wp-content/2024/06/29100257/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-4.13.00-PM.jpeg)
Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 8 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.
The following came from Peter Apo, candidate for Office of Hawaiian Affairs at-large trustee. The other candidates include Keli’i Akina, Lei Ahu Isa, Leona Kalima, Larry Kawaauhau, Brendon Kalei’aina Lee and Patty Kahanamoku-Teruya.
Go to Civil Beat’s Election Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.
1. What do you see as the most pressing problem facing Native Hawaiians, and what will you do about it?
OHA has an obligation to address the underlying purpose of the constitutional amendment that created OHA to serve as a center of gravity in framing a statewide discussion among Hawaiians and their institutions on how to pursue “Ea,” defined here as self-determination.
For many Hawaiians, self-determination translates to self-governance. Unexplained is why OHA apparently abandoned “Ea” as a major policy objective sometime after 2020. This flies in the face of why OHA was created in the first place. A pivotal part of any self-governance dialogue has to include reconciling the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 which led to the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.
In the decades-long struggle to establish itself as a unified native community, OHA’s plight begs extraordinary and visionary leadership. It should be noted that the shaping of a unified Hawaiian future cannot come at the expense of the rest of Hawaii society. Whatever the model, it must, in many respects, unify all Hawaii.
2. Should OHA be subject to oversight by the Hawaii State Ethics Commission?
Yes.
3. Do you support the construction of the TMT atop Mauna Kea? Why or why not? Could the new management structure help to resolve long-standing disputes?
Yes, I support the TMT, which is no longer proposed “atop Mauna Kea.” It was moved to a lower slope absent any sacred sites to avoid the cultural complaint that “any intrusion in the airspace above the summit is a cultural injury.”
There has been no validating body of authority to rule on such a cultural claim since the demise of the Hawaiian “priesthood” after the Battle of Kuamo’o in 1819. A second claim is any digging into the mountain is a cultural injury. How can that be when Hawaiians for centuries maintained a deep rock quarry to mine the best stone for tools and weapons?
Mauna Kea erupted into a network of issues. A complex of 13 telescopes by UH with no end in sight. Hawaiians are merging the TMT issue with the unreconciled overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893.
I support the TMT because studying the universe of stars is a sacred Hawaiian cultural practice supported by the chant history and archaeological research. Hawaiian star gazers sat on mountain tops for centuries observing star patterns. The new management structure has a great opportunity to create a body politic or system of reviewing claims and ruling on their legitimacy.
4. What role should the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands play in reducing homelessness?
The question puzzles me. The DHHL already has thousands on their waiting list, many of whom have died after years of waiting. It would seem insane to add the thousands of homeless to the list.
The Homestead Act, for Hawaiians only, framed by the Congress with the state assuming responsibility, would have to be amended to add a second beneficiary group of the homeless.
5. Why do you think Hawaiians are disproportionately represented in our prisons and jails? What can be done about it?
This is not an easy question to answer. One-hundred thirty years of transgenerational trauma. Since the overthrow of 1893, the Republic of Hawaii, and then annexation, Hawaiians have been deeply imbedded and struggling with the transgenerational trauma of losing their homelands, their culture, their religion, their language, their pride and dignity — and — two-thirds of their population to Western diseases for which they had no immunity. The entire society collapsed.
I would reframe your question to include the homelessness question, education, family income and so forth. I don’t have a lot of data but I think I’m safe in saying a significant percentage of the Hawaiian population dominates many of the negative quality of life statistics such as housing, income, education and so forth.
Perhaps the expanded question needs to be added to the first question about what is OHA’s most pressing problem?
6. What are your views regarding Hawaiian self-determination?
Answered in question No. 1.
7. Is OHA getting its fair share of ceded-land revenues from the state?
Yes and no. It’s up to each state department that manages trust lands to individually determine how to calculate the 20% of leased lands they manage which they must share with OHA.
The Department of Transportation apparently is the most honest model in its calculations. Most other departments do not fully comply with a full measure of the 20% mandate. I’m guessing that OHA is short-changed by about half of what it is entitled.
8. Is OHA fulfilling its mandate to serve the Hawaiian people?
OHA is struggling to fully understand its mandate.
9. Is Hawaii managing its tourism industry properly? What should be handled differently?
Hawaii’s tourism model is predatory and wallet-driven where visitors are kept separated from the visited (locals) by a wall of commerce centered around airlines, hotels, travel desks and offshore marketing.
A vast majority of tourists have their Hawaii vacation fully booked before they even leave their hometown. Growth is largely driven by global corporate brands and almost entirely built on a marketing framework.
County governments, particulary Oahu and Maui, seem to support the proliferation of hotel and visitor shopping center complexes with little thought or dialogue about carrying capacity of an island or any part of an island. The proliferation of the bed and breakfast business model made every residential community in Hawaii susceptible to strangers constantly moving in and out of neighborhoods.
While I sound anti-tourism, I am not. I support tourism as do many fellow Hawaiians. What we don’t support is the predatory business model. This model creates a bimodal distribution of wealth. Rich and poor, no in-between.
The industry was built on Hawaiians and their aloha. OHA needs to give serious thought to engaging the industry through investment and developing a Hawaiian-based tourism model with a cultural framework to guide the business model.
10. How would you make OHA more transparent and accessible to the public and the Hawaiian people?
OHA should consider shifting its governance model away from a trust fund framework to a legislative framework and revisit the Kanaioluwalu attempt to establish a Hawaiians-only registration process (no state money involved) which can function as a voter registration initiative.
A trust fund governance model and operating culture functions more like a parent-child relationship. The trustees are the parents and the children are defined as “beneficiaries.” The trust fund model separates the parents from the children by a well-defined line of demarcation where the children have little to say about how they are being governed even though trustees are directly elected and not appointed.
The idea of revamping the model to replicate a legislative framework would elevate the Hawaiian beneficiaries to the status of being considered “citizens” in a democratic framework. The legislative model affords the “citizens” a more direct say on how they are being governed.
This governance shift would dramatically implant a long-term objective for OHA to transition into a self-governing legislative body, perhaps increasing the number of trustees? This model would still operate under the legal umbrella of statehood, but create an expectation and sense of Hawaiian nationhood.
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Hawaii
Hawaii police arrest two men with loaded gun and rifle on Oprah Winfrey's property – Times of India
![Hawaii police arrest two men with loaded gun and rifle on Oprah Winfrey's property – Times of India](https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/msid-111419689,width-1070,height-580,imgsize-21050,resizemode-75,overlay-toi_sw,pt-32,y_pad-40/photo.jpg)
According to the statement released by the state department of land and natural resources, both men were arrested on June 21 just before midnight when the officers found them using a hunting spotlight on the road.
Although the men were not caught in the act of hunting, the state reported that officers found a loaded shotgun and a loaded rifle in their vehicle. The road where they were apprehended is surrounded by Winfrey’s ranch, according to AP.
The suspects were arrested on various charges, including hunting on private property without permission and lacking a hunting license. Additionally, one of the men was arrested for possessing an unregistered semi-automatic rifle.
Maui and other Hawaiian islands are currently grappling with an overwhelming population of invasive axis deer, reported AP.
County officials stated that the case will be reviewed by Maui County prosecutors to determine if charges will be filed. Records indicate that the men have been released pending the outcome of the investigation.
Hawaii
HDOT to install 5 speed tables on Honoapiilani Highway
WAILUKU, Hawaii — Community concerns about speeding in Waikapu and Wailuku have led to a project to install five speed tables on Honoapiilani Highway (Route 30) in the area of Maui Tropical Plantation and Kolo Place starting July 8.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation announced work will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 8 to July 12. One lane will be closed in either direction during the installation with closures approximately 1,000 feet within project limits, according to a news release. Crews will direct traffic in both directions, alternating traffic in the remaining lane.
Speed table locations:
- Mile marker 0.45 near Wailuku Elementary School in the area of Keanu Street and Kolo Place
- Mile marker 2.09 in the area of Waiolu Place and Pilikana Street
- Mile marker 2.27 in the area of Wilikona Place and Waiko Road
- Mile marker 2.38 in the area of Lehuapueo Place and Wilikona Place
- Mile marker 2.55 near Maui Tropical Plantation in the area of Olo Place and Ololi Place
Honoapiilani Highway near Wailuku Elementary School is a school zone and will have a posted speed limit of 20 mph. The other speed table locations will have a speed limit of 30 mph.
Traffic-calming devices such as raised crosswalks, speed tables and speed humps are a physical reminder to motorists to reduce speed when entering residential and school areas.
HDOT has been gathering data on speed reduction and vehicle crashes in areas with traffic-calming devices. For areas with sufficient post-construction data, officials say the number of motorists exceeding the posted speed limit was reduced by an average of 47%.
The data on major crashes (i.e. crashes resulting in an injury or property damage of $3,000 or more) is shown in the table:
(Graphic courtesy of Hawaii Department of Transportation)
The public can view past and planned installations of traffic-calming devices on the HDOT Safety Improvement Map.
Hawaii
Over 300 earthquakes detected in Hawaii; Kilauea volcano not yet erupting
![Over 300 earthquakes detected in Hawaii; Kilauea volcano not yet erupting](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/07/01/USAT/74266526007-usatsi-10852069.jpg?auto=webp&crop=8228,4629,x0,y196&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts following 400 earthquakes below summit
The USGS in Hawaii raised the volcano alert level to a warning as Kilauea erupted. Nearly 400 earthquakes were recorded below the summit prior.
Hundreds of earthquakes took place over the weekend in Hawaii, the U.S. Geological Survey said, indicating a possible volcanic eruption in the state.
The heap of earthquakes, with rates reaching nearly 30 events each hour, were centralized to Kīlauea on Hawaii’s Big Island, the USGS reported. The volcano is along the southeastern shore of the island.
“There were over 300 earthquakes detected beneath the summit over the past 24 hours, mostly below the south caldera region at depths of 1.5–3 km (1–1.8 mi),” a USGS public notice reads. “This earthquake count is more than triple the rate of several days ago, reflecting a seismic swarm that began with M2.9 and M3.4 earthquakes in the afternoon of June 27.”
So far, the largest one, a magnitude 3.2 temblor, took place Monday at 1:31 a.m. local time, less than 4 miles south of Volcano in Hawaii County.
Increasing seismic activity is a sign of pending volcano eruption, according to the USGS.
“Any substantial increases in seismicity and/or deformation could result in a new eruptive episode but there are no signs of an imminent eruption at this time,” the USGS issued in a report Saturday.
Is the Kilaueo volcano erupting?
As of Monday morning, the Kilauea volcano −one of the world’s most active volcanoes − was not erupting.
The Kilaueo volcano last erupted June 3 about a mile south of Kilauea caldera within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a popular tourist destination.
It marked the first eruption in that region of the volcano in about 50 years. The last one took place in December 1974.
The current USGS Volcano Alert Level remains at “ADVISORY” and the federal agency reported the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is closely monitoring the Kīlauea Volcano.
Contributing: Christopher Cann.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
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