Vultures in the...
Hawaiian Home Lands
Isn’t it about time for the Hawaii State government to
stop the frauds and the court battles and start
keeping their promises to the Hawaiians?
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
January 19, 2008
Millions More Taxpayer Dollars to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs - When is Enough, Enough?
By Garry P. Smith, Hawaii Reporter
Plan B for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is proceeding perfectly.
Unable to get the federal “Akaka Bill” through Congress and the president’s office, so they could secure “federal recognition” and more importantly billions of dollars in land, cash and ultimately casinos, OHA has focused its attention on the more friendly state government and acquired state land and money anyway to form its new nation.
Stating “it’s a good deal for taxpayers,” Gov. Linda Lingle on Friday announced the state settlement for disputed ceded land revenue to OHA of $200 million. The deal includes only $13 million in cash and the rest in vast acreage in some of the most prime real estate in the state at considerably less than market value.
Why would a state agency want so much land while fervently supporting federal recognition that would require the state of Hawaii and the federal government to negotiate the surrendering of 1.2 million acres of ceded lands now owned by all races of citizens in Hawaii to the new Hawaiian Nation?
If the Akaka Bill does not pass Congress or is vetoed by the president as expected, Plan B of OHA will provide a land base for the new Nation of Hawaii. Land is money and power in Hawaii, especially undeveloped prime real estate in Kakaako and Kalaeloa.
Billions of dollars will be made by who ever owns the land and leases it out to commercial development as is all ready being done by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands throughout the state.
As a state taxpayer, I cannot even get a $1 tax rebate from the $700 million surplus of taxes in 2007, and probably not even a penny in 2008, but OHA can get a $200 million.
The governor also wants $100 million for Department of Hawaiian Homelands to build more homes for Hawaiians on top of the $600 million over 20 years all ready being paid by state taxpayers.
This is also in addition to the federal government’s $150 million a year in various programs for Hawaiians. The Federal Communications Commission is providing $400 million in rural fiber optic connections on Hawaiian Homesteads through Sandwich Isle Communications, which has an all Hawaiian Board of Directors including Kamehameha schools trustee Robert K.U. Kihune (VADM, USN, Ret) and Al Hee, Sen. Clayton Hee’s brother.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann paid over $5 million from city taxpayers to buy Waimea Valley and then gave it to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Hawaiians on homestead properties only pay $100 a year in property taxes for the same city services I pay over $3,000 a year for, so that is another benefit not given to the rest of us.
With the billions of dollars already paid out to Hawaiians, the question is why are there still so many Hawaiian homeless on the beaches?
When Gov. Linda Lingle says “it’s a good deal for taxpayers,” I have to ask who negotiated this deal for the average taxpayer? It doesn’t sound like a very good deal to me. How much longer do the taxpayers of the state of Hawaii and the federal government have to pay for racial separatism and when will enough be enough?
Garry Smith is a resident of Ewa Beach who can be reached at mailto:garrypsmith@juno.com
HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com
December 16, 2007
Builder leaves beneficiaries
high and dry, houses wet
The Department of Hawaiian Homelands says it
is helping pay rent for the families
By Rod Thompson, Star-Bulletin
HILO » Department of Hawaiian Home Lands officials say they are working to help DHHL beneficiaries on three islands who were affected when the contractor building 66 homes abandoned the job.
Home buyers have been agonizing as their partially finished homes sit exposed to Hilo rain, while their financial burden mounts.
DHHL head Micah Kane said the department will provide financial assistance where months of delay have forced home buyers to pay unexpected rent, bank penalties and other costs. There will be no increase in the price of the homes, he said.
"Recently, Fredco Inc. removed their workers from the job site which has prompted DHHL to take necessary steps to assure the completion of your house," Kane wrote to the 66 home buyers on Nov. 30.
Fredco is a construction subsidiary of Menehune Development Co., owned by West Hawaii businessman Fred Yamashiro. He has said that rising costs stopped the project, but he couldn't be reached for further comment.
DHHL picked Yamashiro because he did good work for the department in the past, building three-bedroom houses at Kapolei for under $100,000, Kane said.
"He has a track record of success," Kane said.
The current project was to involve 132 families on the Big Island, Lanai and Kauai, but only 66 of them had started construction, Kane said.
One couple is Henrietta Hanson, 75, a DHHL beneficiary and retired warehouse worker, and her husband William, 76, a retired merchant seaman. When they signed up to receive a house in the Panaewa area of Hilo in 2006, it looked like a deal: three bedrooms, three baths, for $167,345.
When they signed papers in June 2006, the house was supposed to be completed by the following April. Instead, the Hansons had to accept three extensions, each one costing them bank penalties.
They currently rent a house for $850 a month, while also paying $923 a month and penalties on their construction loan, they said.
Another beneficiary, Eva Harris, described herself as a single mother with two sons in college and a younger child in a private preschool. Required to pay both rent and loan payments, she had to take a second job, she said.
Six months after signing papers, the Hansons knew things were going wrong. In January, Fredco had withdrawn $32,800 from their account, but the only thing built was a concrete slab. By April, when the house was supposed to be finished, another $32,800 was withdrawn but they still had only a slab.
Around April, the house design was changed. Instead of wood, the frame would be of metal imported from China. When William Hanson called for information, he was told Yamashiro was in China. Now, some of the unfinished houses show a mix of half wood, half metal.
Laura Henderson, buying one of the homes with her friend Julia Ke, said construction on her house stopped with no protection from the rain for the composite wooden roof sheathing. Metal roofing sat on the ground on the other side of the street. In three weeks, the glued wooden sheets started to come apart, and stains from it ran down the walls of her house.
William Hanson said he visited his home, eventually 95 percent completed, nearly daily. He thinks theft of material from the scattered job sites was another problem. A subcontractor, who asked that his name not be used, said there were shipping containers of toilets, bathtubs and lighting fixtures. It's not clear where they are now, he said.
After taking over the project, bonding company Hawaii Hardware posted a guard at the Panaewa job site to prevent further theft.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/16/news/story05.html
July 21, 2007
From: SnowyOne, Kailua, HI
reply to nwrickert
If the telephone line is on Hawaiian Homelands the phish scam is peanuts to the real scam. The real scam is how Sandwich Isles Communications Company receives more than $16M dollars per year to service 1,238 customers.
Do the math.
That's $13,345.00 per year, per residential account! Sandwich Isles Communications also just received one-half Billion dollars to provide broadband to 5,400 homes.
Do the math.
That's $93,000 per home. All of those homes already have landlines and are eligible for DSL, which even including repeaters, would run around $600 per home.
Not that Sandwich Isles Communications is alone in raiding the "Universal Service Fee" fund for this scam. Mobi Communications is attempting to collect ~$1000.00 per month, per account to provide cell phone service to the same areas.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18702718-Telephone-phish
For more, GO TO > > > Vultures of the Sandwich Isles
July 19, 2007
A CHEMICAL LEGACY
The poison in our soil:
Effects on populations living around
land treated with heptachlor
By Alexandra Charles, The Molokai Times
Heptachlor, a toxic pesticide banned in the U.S. in 1988 and classified as a probable carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency, is likely to cause ill effects to human health if exposure to the chemical is in high doses and over a long period of time.
Studies of the pesticides' effects have been limited to laboratory rodents. When fed high levels of heptachlor over a long period of time, the animals developed liver cancer. Several experts say it is reasonable to assume similar effects will occur in humans who are exposed to a high dose of heptachlor by drinking water or milk, inhaling air, or touching soil contaminated by the chemical.
"Pesticides by their nature are dangerous," explained farmer Larry Jefts. "They are created to kill stuff or stop its growth."
He added, "They may not be dangerous to you and me but they may be to some weeds and bugs. We want to be really careful, to follow rules, and to rely on science and not science fiction (when using pesticides on agricultural land)."
Research confirms pineapple companies contaminated the soil when using heptachlor to kill pests on crops. Of major concern is what impact such a regular agricultural practice in Hawaii during the late 1950s and early 1980s has on people today.
A problem arises from land use changes because when new residences are built on agricultural land that was contaminated by pesticides, homeowners are not told about the potential harmful impact to their health.
For instance, after the Hawaiian Homes Act was established in 1920, the federal government put 200,000 acres of Hawaiian land aside for homesteading by Hawaiians with 50 percent or more native blood. In Hoolehua, agricultural lots were established. It is unlikely that homesteaders were informed about what was put into the soil when the land was part of pineapple plantations.
Residents have a variety of suspicions and concerns regarding pesticides like heptachlor. One resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the number of infant gravesite markers in the north side of the Maunaloa cemetery took him aback. He pointed out that Maunaloa was once a pineapple town and said it was chilling for him to see how many children did not live more than a few days. Currently, it is difficult to uncover the cause of death for those buried in the cemetery.
The heptachlor-milk connection
David Rodrigues, another Molokai resident who is an assistant veterinarian and was once a dairy farmer on Honolulu, said heptachlor led to the crippling of the dairy industry.
Rodrigues, who started dairy farming when he was 15, explained pineapple waste from the processing factories, called pine bran, used to be fed to cattle. The pineapple bran was sold to dairy farmers for a cheap price and it made milk sweet, he said.
It was later discovered that heptachlor gets into the body fat of cattle and into their milk. According to researchers Renu Gandhi and Suzanne Snedeker of the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State, using heptachlor-contaminated pineapple leaves as feed for dairy cows in Hawaii resulted in "unusually high amounts of heptachlor epoxide to appear in cow's milk sold on the island of Oahu in the early 1980s. Higher levels of heptachlor epoxide were also found in the breast milk of women who lived on Oahu during this time."
As a result, the sale of the pineapple bran feed was discontinued in the early 1980s and dairy farmers were forced to find substitute feed or shut their farms down.
Rodrigues said he used to drink raw milk from tanks at the farm. Today, at age 51, he says his stomach has become intolerant to milk.
"I love milk but I suffer badly," he said.
Rodrigues said he also had a liver problem but never found out the cause. He said he has since changed his diet.
Rodrigues said he suspects long-term ingestion of milk byproducts, from cattle who were given heptachlor-contaminated feed, may weaken a person's liver but does not have any scientific proof.
"I think the State of Hawaii overlooked researching what damage heptachlor causes when consumed," he said.
Impact on humans inconclusive
Barbara Brooks, toxicologist for the Department of Health's Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response branch, said heptachlor is a residual contaminant. She said low levels of heptachlor have shown up in some food like fish, despite the commercial sale of the pesticide being banned for the past 20 years.
The current presence of the pesticide is not too concerning, Brooks assured, since the levels are still acceptable and the produce can be eaten.
According to Qing Li, professor of Environmental Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Hawaii, the concentration of heptachlor in Molokai soil is not that high.
"We had a hard time finding heptachlor in some soil samples we analyzed," he said. "In one field, we might detect heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide in one section but not in another."
A 1996 United Nations Environment Program and Food and Agriculture Organization report explains why control actions like banning and restricting heptachlor are reasonable: "control actions have been taken for various reasons including: heptachlor's toxicity to man, other mammals, birds, fish, and other aquatic organisms, as well as a concern for bio-accumulation, persistence and environmental contamination. Of particular concern is its demonstrated carcinogenic response in laboratory rodents and its potential impact on human health from widespread environmental contamination in the food chain."
A report by Dean Baker from the Environmental and Occupational Medicine Department of Community Medicine also paints a frightening picture of heptachlor: "at high doses, heptachlor can cause dizziness, muscle tremors and spasms, convulsions, and death (…) case reports in humans (suggest) that heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide may increase the risk of developing cancer."
In one case, a Molokai resident named Edward Alfonso Sr., who used to work for Del Monte applying chemicals to pineapple fields, developed hundreds of tiny tumor nodules in his chest cavity.
His daughter, Betty Lou Alfonso-Ignacio, said both she and her mother had to have tumors removed and that her sister Marianne died from colon and lung cancer at age 48. According to Alfonso-Ignacio, her family used to live carefree beside pineapple fields that were being treated with powerful insecticides.
In 2005, Alfonso-Ignacio observed a trend of cancer occurring in people who worked in the pineapple fields like her father. She contacted Erin Brokovich's law firm in Los Angeles with the intent of filing a class-action suit against the former plantation operators, but was told she needed more evidence and records proving a link between the pineapple work and illnesses. Today, Alfonso-Ignacio said her attorneys are still working on the case.
Several studies have looked into what effect heptachlor has on mice and rats. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, some studies show changes in the nervous system and immune function of young animals exposed to heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide during gestation and infancy.
Still, evidence of the chemical's effects on humans is not conclusive.
University of Hawaii Associate professor of chemistry, Jean-Pierre Michaud, explained scientific experiments and studies cannot clearly show cause-and-effect relationships, such as what exact effects heptachlor has on humans, because there are no constants with humans. For instance, when studying a sample of people, one must realize that traits like gender, age, diet, and lifestyle vary and all contribute to someone's level of health.
"The studies almost never give a complete picture," said Michaud.
Michaud also said people should not jump to conclusions based on studies done with heptachlor on laboratory rodents because rodents are given very high doses over a short term, whereas humans may have a low exposure to a pesticide over a long time.
"By overwhelming rodent bodies with a high amount of toxicity, all hell breaks lose," said Michaud.
He pointed out that an overdose of water or salt can be lethal and said, "it is all a question of dose."
How can people reduce the risk of exposure to heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide?
To minimize exposure to heptachlor, researchers recommend people avoid digging in the soil, or planting close to foundations of homes that were treated with heptachlor.
Also, children should be careful playing with dirt and hands should be washed thoroughly and before eating.
http://www.molokaitimes.com/articles/771916246.asp
< < < FLASHBACK < < <
November 30, 1998
Heptachlor study
will track isle students
The pineapple pesticide found
its way into the state's milk
supply 16 years ago
By Gregg K. Kakesako, Star-Bulletin
Some 200 teen-agers who were exposed to the pesticide heptachlor in tainted island milk in 1982 will be the subject of a year-long study.
The $775,000 study, commissioned by the Hawaii Heptachlor Research and Education Fund, is the second epidemiological study on the long-term health effects of the pineapple pesticide that found its way into the state's milk supply 16 years ago.
Sherry Broder, attorney who handled the lawsuit, said the study is part of a $4 million settlement to claims made from the heptachlor exposure.
So far, Broder said nothing of concern has been discovered.
Besides studies, the settlement money has been used to fund research into the pesticide and to develop educational and teaching materials, Broder said.
"I would say at the present time nothing has been discovered that would cause a parent to become concerned with regard to heptachlor," Broder said.
Broder said the current study, which will be conducted by Dr. Dean Baker of the University of California at Irvine, will match the neurological behavior and academic achievements of 200 Oahu heptachlor babies against 100 students who were not born on Oahu and not exposed to the pineapple pesticide.
However, these 100 students will have lived on Oahu for the past 10 years and will have attended island schools.
"These (200) students are now 15 and 16 years old, and it will probably be the last opportunity we will have to test them," Broder said.
Baker did an earlier, $900,000 study where blood samples from heptachlor babies were tested.
"There were no flags raised from that study," she said.
Heptachlor made its way into the milk supply through pineapple tops that were fed to cows.
Thousands of gallons of milk had to be dumped in 1982 when it was discovered that heptachlor had made its way into the supply.
By then several hundreds of babies had been drinking it for months.
http://starbulletin.com/98/11/30/news/story4.html
From the Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources website:
WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Forested watersheds provide us with nearly all of our state's fresh water.
Watershed Partnerships are voluntary alliances of public and private landowners committed to the common value of protecting large areas of forested watersheds for water recharge and other values.
More than 200,000 acres of important watershed areas in Hawai`i have been placed within these unique public-private partnerships...
~ ~ ~
West Maui Mountains Watershed Partnership
(50,000 acres)
Partners
Maui County Board of Water Supply
Kamehameha Schools
C. Brewer and Company Limited
Amfac/JMB Hawaii, LLC
The Nature Conservancy
Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Inc.
State Department of Land & Natural Resources
County of Maui ...
East Maui Watershed Partnership
(100,000+ acres)
State Department of Land and Natural Resources
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i*
The Maui County Board of Water Supply
Haleakala Ranch Co.*
East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd.
Haleakala National Park
Hana Ranch
The County of Maui
Ko'olau Watershed Partnership
(97,100 acres)
Kamehameha Schools
State Department of Land and Natural Resources
State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
Agribusiness Development Corporation
U.S. Army
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Honolulu Board of Water Supply
Queen Emma Foundation
Bishop Museum
Manana Valley Farm LLC
Tiana Partners
Dole Food Co., Inc.
Associate (non-landowning partners)
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Geological Survey
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Health
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i
For more, GO TO > > > Blue Gold in Blue Hawaii
From The Catbird’s Forum:
Date Posted: 18:22:31 12/06/06 Wed
Author: Truth Seeker
Subject: HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS PLANS HUGE MALL
Catbird,
Great site! Nice to see some real news.
These would go in the category of Iwa birds. They are stealing food from other birds that does not belong to them.
Here is some news about the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:
BIG BOX STORES PLANNED
Advisory board made up of developer friends of Micah Kane.
67 Acres for one of Oahu’s Biggest Malls.
DHHL run by Building Industry Representative handpicked by GOP- as political payback for party favor.
50,000 square feet of fancy new offices.
Two new commercial sites.
What in the world happened to homes for thousands of Hawaiians, many who have been waiting since the 1970’s?
How did these projects get ahead of the line?
http://www.dhhlhoap.org/article.php?story=20061019135117205
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Aug/23/ln/FP608230356.html/?print=on
Why is a panel of developer crooks running a public agency?
“I thought, what would [Ko Olina developer] Jeff Stone do if he was in my shoes, or [real estate vet, Beach Walk developer] Dick Gushman or Stanford Carr [developer of Hawaii Kai Peninsula]?”
So Kane asked them, creating a volunteer advisory board staffed with some of Hawai‘i’s top private developers and building supply firms—none of which do business with the agency.
http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2006/08/hawaiian-homeland-improvement/
Aloha,
Truth Seeker
July 9, 2006
Homestead awards end long wait
for lucky few
One Hawaiian homestead is awarded to a woman
57 years after her father applied
By Alexandre Da Silva, Star-Bulletin
The line for a homestead was so long for Aloysius Lincoln that he never saw the end of it.
But yesterday, 57 years after the former Honolulu Gas Co. employee applied for a lease, his daughter claimed the lease awarded for the second phase of a Department of Hawaiian Home Lands project in Kapolei.
"Unfortunately, he died two years ago. He was 87," said Frances Segundo, 60, who was a baby when her father signed up for the program. "However, his legacy goes on, because this award is for our ohana, our family."
About 2,000 people showed up yesterday morning at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall, where the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands awarded 250 lots in Phase 2 and Phase 3 of in their Kaupe'a project in Kapolei.
The 52-acre subdivision has 326 lots, 76 of which were awarded in November 2005....
Segundo, a clerk at Maui Community College, said her cousin, Naira Martin, would live in the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house with her daughter, but there would always be room for another relative.
"I'm free from the rent, which is going to be over with," said Martin, 56. The $2,000 she pays each month for rent will now go toward her mortgage....
Gov. Linda Lingle, who was present for yesterday's selection meeting, said the latest awards would help the state's shortage of affordable rentals as new homeowners are able to free up rental homes and apartments....
Yesterday's crowd was a fraction of the nearly 20,000 native Hawaiians currently on the homestead waiting list, about half of which are on Oahu, said Lloyd Yonenaka, a spokesman for the Hawaiian Home Lands Department.
Even though more than 1,200 leases have been given out since 2003, the department's waiting list keeps growing, at a pace of about 100 people a month, Yonenaka said.
To qualify, applicants must have at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood and be pre-approved to afford one of the five Kaupe'a models, which range between $238,600 and $296,100 in lots averaging 5,000 square feet. The lease rent for the land under their homes is $1 per year....
As she signed documents for her new lease yesterday, Vivian Perreira, 71, said she would vacate her Maili home in Waianae -- where she lives with husband, Alfred, her son and his two children -- sometime next year. Perreira said her youngest son, 47-year-old Prince, a refuse truck driver for Rolloffs Hawaii Inc., had to co-sign her application because her Social Security earnings weren't enough for a loan.
After waiting 48 years for her name to be called, Perreira, now in a wheelchair, will lease a four-bedroom home on a corner lot in Kapolei.
"I signed up when I was 23," she said. "I almost gave up, but I left my name on for so long."
The federal government set up the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1921, eventually reserving 200,000 acres statewide to benefit native Hawaiians. But development of land to provide homes has been slow, and many families have been on the waiting list for decades.
Last month the state Supreme Court ruled that 2,700 native Hawaiians can seek monetary damages in a lawsuit against the state for its alleged mismanagement of the Hawaiian Home Lands program.
Not everyone who came yesterday had a happy story to share. Homes went to 250 families, but 750 people qualified for lots, which are awarded on the basis of seniority. People who have qualified and waited the longest are the next in line for a home.
Lee Kogler, 54, who has been researching her genealogy for more than 20 years, had to leave without a lease after arriving at 7 a.m. with her husband, daughter, grandson and two sons....
Kogler, who is number 7,954 on the wait list for Oahu, said she would never quit trying for a lease....
Read the complete article (with photos) at:
http://starbulletin.com/2006/07/09/news/story02.html
Catbird Note: Lee Kogler, and the thousands of others like her on the Hawaiian Homes wait list, should be happy to know that when they FINALLY get their chance to lease their 5,000 sq. ft. of Hawaiian Home Lands’ property, they will probably already have access to cable TV through Sandwich Isles Communications!
July 1, 2006
Hawaiians win in land dispute
The state high court rules beneficiaries can pursue
land claims and monetary damages
By Alexandre Da Silva, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
More than 2,700 native Hawaiians can seek monetary damages from the state for its alleged mismanagement of the Hawaiian Home Lands program, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
Upholding a lower court's ruling, five judges also concluded that as many as 2,721 beneficiaries can pursue land claims that were once up for consideration by a review panel suspended in 1999, said Thomas Grande, attorney for the plaintiffs.
The suit, brought by three women, argues that the homesteading program set up under the 1959 Statehood Admissions Act mishandled thousands of land claims under an extensive wait list. It also faults the land trust for allegedly awarding properties lacking access to water, damaged by illegal grading or other work.
State Attorney General Mark Bennett could not say yesterday whether the state would appeal the 64-page decision, but that his staff would review it. Lloyd Yonenaka, spokesman for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, referred questions about the case to the Attorney General's Office.
Attorneys say the ruling would allow applicants to file claims for rent paid while waiting for a Hawaiian Homes lease. Also, those with land awards could make claims for not being able to build a house or a farm because of a lack of improvements.
One of the plaintiffs, Raynette Nalani Ah Chong of Kahaluu, said the ruling will allow her to revisit an application filed in 1966 by her father, Joseph Ching, who died in 2001.
"I'm overjoyed that we finally won the battle he was fighting. Now, that my father is not here, I have to fight for his portion so that I can pass this to my mother," said an emotional Ah Chong, 48, whose mother, Wehilani Ching, lives in Hawaii Kai. "He waited long and hard for this."
The land disputes date to 1991, when the state set up the Hawaiian Homes Land Trust Individual Claims Review to investigate allegations of breaches in cases between 1959 and 1988, Grande said. But when the panel crumbled in 1999, only two cases were heard, leaving more than 2,700 challenges unresolved, he said.
The Legislature tried to keep the panel active for another year, but then-Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed the measure. Soon after, Circuit Judge Victoria Marks ruled that claimants could sue the state for ending the review process. The state appealed, and the case wound up before the high court.
"It's been a six-year battle in the Supreme Court and the decision that was rendered today allows us to now go back to Circuit Court and to pursue these claims for monetary damages," Grande said.
The federal government set up the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1921, eventually reserving 200,000 acres statewide to benefit native Hawaiians. As of May 31, there were 18,784 people waiting for leases, Yonenaka said.
But Alan Murakami, attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said the state has not adequately funded the program. He pointed to a graph that showed the department's share of state general funds decreasing dramatically in the past 20 years.
"What do you think happens as a result of that small of a budget for this big of a mission?" he asked. "This is an example of how the state has given very little priority to the most important and fundamental mission of the state as a result of joining the federal union."
Dianne Boner, a plaintiff from Waipahu, said her application has been pending since 1971. Because agency staff originally assigned to her claim are long gone, Boner said it's hard to check the status of her case.
"Just to get our claims, we have to research and file it to the claims office," said Boner, 58. "They lost my paper and I had to reapply. ... It was a lot of stress."
Gov. Linda Lingle had no comment on whether her administration has given the agency enough funds, said her spokesman, Russell Pang.
The 2,721 outstanding claims range from people who argue they were given deficient land to those who believe they've been on the waiting list for an unreasonable amount of time, said plaintiffs' attorney Carl Varady.
It's unclear when the claims will be presented in court, but lawyers say the state should cooperate, noting that some beneficiaries have been waiting up to 40 years for an answer....
Read the complete story (with pictures) at...
http://starbulletin.com/2006/07/01/news/story01.html
$ $ $
July 4, 2006
Lawsuit challenges Hawaiian land rules
A man wants the Hawaiian Homes Commission
to be put in charge
By Rod Thompson, Star-Bulletin
HILO » Patrick Kahawaiolaa doesn't want to destroy the system that awards leases to native Hawaiians, but he does want to destroy the controlling Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
He thinks the Hawaiian Homes Commission can run the land system without a department, and doing so would end injustices he believes exist.
There's a small chance that he may upend both the department and the system. He's basing a federal lawsuit against the department on racial grounds, that non-Hawaiians are barred from Hawaiian Homes leases.
Deputy Attorney General Clayton Lee Crowell opposes that suit brought by Kahawaiolaa, 61, a retired postal worker, and five others.
The law prohibits Hawaiians from trying to protect the rights of non-Hawaiians, Crowell said. In legal language, Kahawaiolaa and the others don't have "standing," he said.
U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway already ruled against Kahawaiolaa. But there is no certainty about a pending appeal until a ruling comes from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Kahawaiolaa suit can be compared to two other recent Hawaiian cases.
Kamehameha Schools argued to the 9th Circuit Court last month that special treatment for Hawaiians is right at that private institution, but Kahawaiolaa argues special treatment is wrong for Hawaiian Homes beneficiaries.
While about 2,700 Hawaiians learned last week that the state Supreme Court is letting them sue for being excluded from Hawaiian Homes land, Kahawaiolaa's group already had land. They want other benefits that they believe old laws grant them.
For example, up to 2003, Kahawaiolaa reduced his monthly mortgage payments to the department, believing the 1920 Hawaiian Homes law allowed him to pay 2 percent interest instead of 8 3/4 charged by the department. The department evicted him and the others in 2003....
Read the full story at...
http://starbulletin.com/2006/07/04/news/story07.html
DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
News Release
LINDA LINGLE
GOVERNOR
Micah A. Kane, Chairman
Ben Henderson, Deputy to the Chairman
For Immediate Release:
February 14, 2006
DHHL Markets Kapolei Commercial Site to Wall Street
RFP for 67-acre parcel advertised in Wall Street Journal
HONOLULU, HAWAII—The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) will place an ad in the Wall Street Journal tomorrow seeking interested parties for the development of a its 67-acre commercial parcel in Kapolei. The ad is one of several issued this week and directs interested parties to a web site: www.EastKapolei.com for more information....
DHHL envisions a regional mall serving the Leeward Coast to be developed on the 67-acres site, which is larger than the footprint of Ala Moana Shopping Center (50 acres). The revenue from the commercial lease will further the department’s self-sufficiency quest and provide additional funding for residential development.
"We are looking for the best opportunity to work with a developer that will provide a good revenue return and who can also respect our culture and what makes Hawaii special. This is a valuable piece of real estate because it sits strategically between two existing communities and thousands of new homes are coming online in that area," said Micah Kane, Chairman of the Hawaiian Home Lands. "It will provide employment and business opportunities for the entire region and it is a great anchor for that region."
"This is a great fit for the department’s philosophy of building communities where residents can live, work, play and learn in the same place," Governor Linda Lingle said. "Besides providing economic opportunities for the entire region, this will have an important influence on reducing traffic by keeping jobs in Kapolei. This is good for native Hawaiians and it will have a positive impact for everyone in the region."
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Question to Linda Lingle and Micah Kane from the Wise ‘Ol Owl: Why do you have to go to Wall Street to look for a developer? Aren’t there ANY native Hawaiian entrepreneurs who can build, own and operate this shopping center on their own, mismanaged Hawaiian Homelands property? ? ?
June 4, 2005
Sandwich Isles Communications:
Political Connections Pay Off
By Andrew Walden, Hawaii Reporter
Special from Hawaii Free Press
In a little-noticed May 16 ruling, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver necessary to allow Sandwich Isles Communications to complete construction of its $500 million project to link 69 Hawaiian Homelands properties with a fiber optic communications network.
Sandwich Isles, had completed about $160 million worth of construction bringing its network to all the islands except the Big Island, when in October, 2004 the FCC suddenly acted on a 6-year-old complaint from telecom rival Verizon. As a result of the October ruling, Sandwich Isles was forced to reapply for its FCC waiver which allowed SIC to receive $400 million in federal funds taken from the “Universal Service Fund” (USF) tax on consumers’ phone bills.
The Universal Service Fund tax is intended to subsidize telecommunications service to unserved rural areas. Verizon Hawaii, now re-named Hawaii Telecom after being purchased by the Carlyle Group, had argued the DHHL lots Sandwich Isles proposed to serve were not unserved because they were within Verizon territory. With the waiver granted, federal funds can once again flow into Sandwich Isles Communication’s coffers and construction can be completed on the Big Island.
Gilbert Tam, Sandwich Isles Communications Vice President for government and community relations, says the company “is pleased with the FCC order” which “allows SIC to fulfill its commitment and efforts to provide modern and affordable telecommunications services to residents of Hawaiian Home Lands.”
At an estimated of $500 million, if Sandwich Isles Communications were to serve all 20,000 DHHL lots, the cost would be $25,000 per lot. But DHHL has only about 5,400 lots occupied by leaseholders.
At current build-out rates it would be about 40 years until all 20,000 lots are filled. $500 million to wire 5,400 lots averages out to about $93,000 per lot - the construction cost of a house - just for high speed internet and phone service.
Further, there is no reason to believe that all 5,400 DHHL leaseholders would want to pay Sandwich Isles Communication’s monthly fees for high speed internet service.
Many DHHL homesteaders already have land lines from Verizon. In the United States, about 33 percent of households have high speed internet connections.
If DHHL leaseholders have the same level of interest in high speed internet connections, Sandwich Isles Communications would serve about 1,800 lots at an average cost to the taxpayers of about $278,000 per lot.
Currently, Sandwich Isles Communications is reported to serve about 1,300 customers.