| This story has been corrected. |
It’s sad that mismanagement at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has been such a legacy problem in state government that basic proposals, such as those recently advanced by a state task force, have to be celebrated.
But that is where we are, so policymakers need to treat the recommendations seriously and as a credible starting point in an ongoing improvement plan to make this troubled agency more accountable and effective, at least in the way one of its programs is being run.
DHHL administers a program dating to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, which Congress passed as a means of empowering those with at least 50 percent Native Hawaiian ancestry by issuance of long-term leases on homesteads. The trust comprises 203,000 acres of land owned by the Hawaiian government and crown before it was ceded to the U.S. with annexation.
The trust suffered from decades of negligence, including insufficient support from the territorial and then state governments to enable the infrastructure required to develop residential properties.
A later settlement provided some of the needed funds, but that wasn’t the end of the problems. DHHL’s poor management of land assets in its charge — basically, a question of fairness and consistency being applied in the way beneficiaries are treated and permits are granted — have been the subject of an investigative series by Star-Advertiser writer Rob Perez.
More specifically, problems with the revocable permit program were raised, including selective enforcement and lax oversight. This program was intended for month-to-month leases for nonresidential ag lots, but has been riddled with problems such as illegal home-building and favoritism resulting in leases lasting decades.
The series, starting in May 2013, culminated with Gov. Neil Abercrombie convening a task force, with recommendations developed by Attorney General David Louie, Department of Land and Natural Resources Director William Aila and Department of Budget and Finance Director Kalbert Young.
In August, its report was delivered to the overseeing Hawaiian Homes Commission. The prescriptions all have merit, although it’s unsettling to realize that up to this point, the revocable permit program had lacked something as essential as adopting administrative rules, one of the changes the task force suggests.
Among the other proposals:
» Award permits only through a competitive bid system, and review them regularly before renewal, with adequate staff assigned to this task.
» Set rents consistently, applying a rational calculation method the department will establish.
» Create a manual of internal procedures for DHHL staff to follow regarding issuance, compliance checks and enforcement of permits.
Department officials underscore that the permit program was halted after the newspaper series revealed problems, and that some of these changes are already underway. Accordingly, the Legislature should call DHHL to report on progress when lawmakers reconvene.
One frequent critic of the department, beneficiary Curtis Crabbe, applauded the changes in the revocable-permit program but correctly observed that they fall short of what’s needed for DHHL’s overall land-trust management: direct federal oversight.
There are also myriad other issues not addressed by the report, such as basic upkeep of homes that were built years ago, coordination with counties on building-code requirements and the provision of essential infrastructure for pastoral lots.
But at least on the matter of the revocable permits, the task force has provided a list of best practices for such a program. That’s the starting line for a long journey ahead.
CORRECTION: Curtis Crabbe applauded the changes in the revocable-permit program. An earlier version of this story and the story in the print edition of Wednesday’s paper had an incorrect last name.
