Faced with a waitlist of nearly 29,000 Native Hawaiian beneficiaries who qualify for homestead housing and raised expectations from a historic $600 million appropriation from the Legislature in 2022, state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director Kali Watson says DHHL is ready to go full speed ahead — and at double the pace, if the Legislature can keep up.

The message is clear: DHHL is moving to fulfill its mission, and not at a snail’s pace.

That a Hawaiian agency plagued throughout its history by deficiencies in resources and funding, as well as periodic findings of improper and unproductive dealings, should now be on the ball and ready to go is cause for celebration. But we’ll put off the shouts of glee until DHHL delivers on new housing for Hawaiians, and proves itself by meeting expected standards for performance and sound money management.

But first: Act 279, signed into law by outgoing Gov. David Ige, has a technical flaw, leaving funding vulnerable to a state constitutional provision that would claw back any money not encumbered by June 30. Lawmakers are expected to take up DHHL funding this session, if only to fix that flaw — with no less than six pending bills to do so.

WATSON recently appeared before legislators to urge the “extension” of Act 279, also known as the Waitlist Reduction Act. His presentation, however, stated that DHHL actually expects to use $599.9 million of the appropriation before June 30, with monies going in part to acquire land and produce 2,180 lots for beneficiaries.

That differs from an initial plan presented by DHHL’s prior leadership in 2022, estimating that $540 million could be used to produce about 3,000 lots, using the balance for other beneficiary programs.

“We are going to be using up the $600 million,” Watson said at a Jan. 9 briefing for Senate committees. “We do need more money, so we’d hope that you guys consider it.”

The spending plan speed-up arises from DHHL choosing lands to acquire that can be developed and made available to beneficiaries far more quickly than lands currently in DHHL’s portfolio, which are often remote and lack infrastructure.

DHHL plans to buy 300 acres on Kauai near Lihue from Grove Farm before June 30, using $20.7 million of the $600 million currently appropriated, with a 240-lot, $71 million first phase proposed in the 2024-2025 fiscal year if funding is obtained, and 1,200 lots over time. Similarly, there’s a plan to buy land on Hawaii island for $9 million within this fiscal year, followed by developing 296 lots for about $57 million.

Further, Watson said DHHL has identified $626 million in potential homestead projects that could produce 3,659 lots in 2024-2025, if additional funding is supplied.

But while setting the stage for this visionary, big-picture plan, it’s also important that projects already underway stay on track, so that hopes raised for those awaiting promised homes are not squashed. For example, a $48 million plan to develop 600 homestead lots on DHHL land in Ewa Beach was pushed back by a year; while that may be acceptable as part of a cost-effective strategy, it’s hoped that beneficiaries with their eyes on this Ewa Beach homestead land are not frustrated by the delay.

It’s also important that as DHHL ramps up to deliver big results, proper scrutiny is applied to hiring, spending and cost-benefit results — again, so that maximum value can be delivered for beneficiaries. Watson told Senate committees that DHHL has brought on nearly 40 new employees to help implement Act 279, allowing the agency to identify more cost-efficient projects. Legislators and Gov. Josh Green, who appointed Watson to DHHL’s top position last year, must expect accounting for the productivity of this expanded team.

IT’S HARD TO SHAKE memories of past lapses. Just over 10 years ago, in 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior imposed tighter rules for operations on DHHL after the Star-Advertiser detailed lax oversight and selective enforcement of DHHL’s month-to-month leases on undeveloped trust lands, and the state auditor released a critical report on increasing delinquencies within DHHL’s home loan programs.

Presumably, the federal rules and added oversight would prevent such failings from cropping up again — but the lessons remain that clear, publicly known benchmarks for progress on beneficiary needs and controls on costs and losses are essential.

Native Hawaiian beneficiaries and Hawaii residents alike have high hopes that DHHL is entering an era of high performance. And Watson’s experience as both a nonprofit affordable-housing developer, and as DHHL’s director from 1995 to 1998, would seem to give him a leg up on setting goals and riding herd on DHHL operations. Any concern can be put to rest by incorporating maximum transparency, so that the public can be satisfied that DHHL is maxing out its capabilities.