Good evening homestead leaders across the state! Wow - We conducted a jam packed, invigorating 2 hour policy convening with the Beneficiary Working Group on Land Use Policy! It was awesome. Mahalo Mahalo Mahalo to all of the leaders from around the state that called in and fully participated. We had Hawaiian educators, policy wonks, farmers, ranchers, community organizers, executives, cultural practitioners, entrepreneurs -- so much diversity of talent, passion and skills. Humbling. Following is a VERY brief report to the Larger Statewide Homestead Network of Todays Convening: 1. Covered the 7 Allowable Uses of Trust Landsunder the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act 2. Reviewed what a Revocable Permit is, a Right of Entry, a License, and a General Lease -- All Land Disposition Instruments used by DHHL 3. Analyzed page by page, word by word, the Ige/Masagatani Land Policy presented to the Hawaiian Homes Commission -- It is stunning how anti-Hawaiian it is. It is PLDC all over again, except with our Hawaiian Lands! One participant remarked that the Ige/Masagatani Land Policy is like a declaration of battle on Hawaiians to dismantle the core purposes of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. Im sad to have to agree, it was painful to read, and to comprehend what the result of this ill-advised policy will be if it is actually implemented by the State DHHL. My hope is that the problem is that our new Governor is not up to speed on our unique issues, and just doesnt realize how bad the policy is. If he maintains on track on this policy, it could be the largest travesty and death sentence to thousands of people on the waitlist. 4. Adopted Our Mission of Opposing the Ige/Masagatani Land Policy AND to Present anAlternative Policy to the Governor -- The convening resulted in compiling all of the basic documents and information needed to draft our Alternative Plan. We shared land use stories from various islands and homestead regions, compiled the priorities we have for land use and land disposition methods, and developed our outline. 5. Scheduled the next convening for January 6, and Mahalo to SCHHA Chairman, Kamaki Kanahele for helping us to figure out a way to meet in person hosted by the SCHHA in Honolulu. 6. Last item on the agenda were update reports on the Request to the Obama Administration to promulgate federal rules for the HHCA over DHHL, and an update on the DHHL Strategic Plandeveloped by 100 beneficiaries for the new Governor. Extraordinary 2 hours of intelligent, concise, thoughtful and passionate policy discussion. Robin Puanani Danner, SCHHA Policy Chairman
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 09:40:33 +0000