On its surface, the news looks bad for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA): Yet another audit has reported evidence of potential fraud, waste and abuse. However, the audit, which was released Nov. 10 and examines OHA transactions between 2012 and 2016, actually indicates that the agency is and has been cleaning up its act.

One can’t say the same of OHA between 2012 and 2016, a period that has now been combed through by three separate auditors. This most recent report, by nationally known firm Plante Moran, took a forensic approach to look for evidence of criminal acts, but also wasteful and unaccountable management, and found 22 instances of mishandled transactions involving more than $7 million.

That kind of irresponsible, unaccountable and potentially criminal action cannot be tolerated in an agency funded by taxpayer dollars, nor should it be acceptable in an agency charged with benefiting Native Hawaiians.

The public airing of these revelations and OHA’s public commitment to “ensure accountability for past wrongdoing,” as board of trustees Chair Carmen “Hulu” Lindsey stated at a news conference, are a welcome step in rehabilitating OHA’s reputation. However, that can happen only if the agency, and its trustees, act with the utmost transparency and responsibility.

Sparked by a critical state audit, a 2019 review contracted by OHA also documented potentially fraudulent, wasteful or abusive transactions. After its release, OHA CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe, who was responsible for ensuring the agency fulfilled its mandate of fiduciary responsibility to Native Hawaiians’ benefit, stepped down.

OHA’s board of trustees took action to restructure procedures and establish oversight after Crabbe’s resignation. New CEO Sylvia Hussey moved the bulk of the agency’s operating budget into “beneficiary and community investments” in, for example, Hawaiian charter schools and college scholarships. OHA has stepped up fiscal management and transparency, with budget and spending information readily available on its website.

The agency’s recent actions have even earned nods from trustee and internal watchdog Keli‘i Akina, who said, “The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is today a totally different place from 2012 to 2016,” adding, “When we look back, we saw that there was a culture that made fraud, waste and abuse easy to do at OHA. … That culture is no longer here.”

The Plante Moran audit, contracted this year, went into OHA’s financial management in forensic detail, and OHA’s trustees are considering whether it should deliver the findings to federal and state agencies for criminal investigation.

“We’re cleaning up our house over here,” trustee Mililani Trask said. “… We are seeking accountability.”

Accountability is necessary, at a pivotal time when OHA’s annual budget has grown to $21.5 million, allocated from the state’s revenue derived from Hawaii’s public lands. The agency also received a lump sum of $64 million from the state this year for retroactive ceded land proceeds.

Native Hawaiian issues and well-being are increasingly moving to center stage. The University of Hawaii’s new strategic plan commits UH to “model what it means to be an indigenous-serving and indigenous-centered institution.” The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is assuming a prominent role in statewide affairs, including tourism. And the federal administration has explicitly committed to consult with and support Native Hawaiians. This all provides OHA with unprecedented opportunity to wield its resources for Native Hawaiians’ benefit.

“We know we have to do much better to deliver what our beneficiaries need,” Lindsey said. That acknowledgement, along with OHA’s improved fiscal transparency, make for a good restart.