HANALEI — The Kaua‘i Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce hosted a forum Friday night to meet candidates running for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Held at Hanalei School, the forum was the second of three gatherings and was meant to
HANALEI — The Kaua‘i Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce hosted a forum Friday night to meet candidates running for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Held at Hanalei School, the forum was the second of three gatherings and was meant to introduce candidates to voters on the North Shore.
Of the 10 candidates running to be the OHA trustee for Kaua‘i, five were in attendance at the event.
Kamealoha Smith, president of the Native Hawaiian Chamber, opened the evening with a special tribute to Sharon Pomroy, the OHA candidate who collapsed after addressing the audience at the first forum last week and passed away Tuesday morning.
Dirk Soma, a board member for the Native Hawaiian Chamber, also placed a special lei in Sharon’s honor.
“She was a kupuna who taught fishing to high school students. She was passionate about fishing,” Smith said of Pomroy’s recent work with Ke Kaiaulu O Anahola. “A natural fishing mentor to keiki, we were really fortunate to have her be part of our program. Kumu Sharon’s work will continue and our resilient kids will carry on.”
Several OHA candidates were in attendance to address the small group, along with a few candidates for other races.
Candidate Haunani Pacheco said while there was some concern from voters about a surgery she had a year ago, she was ready to bring “hope to Hawaiians.”
She also discussed how Native Hawaiians are an “endangered species,” with the number of Native Hawaiians dwindling since the late 1700s and the rise of foreigners in the state. She projected that at the current rate, there would be no Hawaiians left by 2044.
“Food, shelter and clothing. These are the basic needs for them,” Pacheco said. “Hawaiians are losing their homes, their lands. Our food supply is being depleted. And many of them feel like they have been betrayed by the religion that they embraced.”
Pacheco said while “there is no GMO taro,” the taro crops are being eaten “by endangered birds to the tune of 800,000 pounds per year.” She said the farmers are fed up and want to give up.
“We need to support them,” said Pacheco.
Candidate Leland “Radar” Yadao then addressed the gathering.
“I’m just a simple, quiet person,” Yadao said. “I’m running for this OHA seat. I just get frustrated. Being a trustee, you’re supposed to work for the beneficiaries. I’m a hard worker.”
Yadao said he would work for the people, listen to the people and do what he thinks is right.
“I like make the right choices,” he said. “We gotta change the trustees. Most trustees in there now are hopeless.”
Candidate Kanani Kagawa Fu discussed growing up in Anahola with a single mother. She also talked about attending and later working for Kamehameha Schools, along with working for OHA and her current position with the County of Kauai serving kupuna.
Kagawa Fu said her background helped her realize “it took a community to build one person.”
“I have a really fresh, progressive kind of leadership style that brings solutions to people,” Kagawa Fu said. “I want to be a part of the progressive, positive change that OHA brings to people.”
She said she is most concerned with education as the “most important vehicle for people to succeed.”
Education is also a focus for candidate Ronson Sahut, who is a fourth-grade teacher at Wilcox Elementary School.
“I like to think of myself as a retired member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society,” Sahut said. “I was fortunate enough to sail on the Hokule‘a on the ‘Navigating Change’ voyage.”
Hailing from a long line of saltmakers in Hanapepe, Sahut expressed a strong desire to save Makaweli Poi Mill.
“One of the main reasons for me running for the trustee seat for Kaua‘i is to save Makaweli Poi,” Sahut said. “Makaweli Poi is too important to be thrown away.”
Sahut wants OHA to “invest more in our most important asset — people” to prevent homelessness, poverty, high incarceration rates and drug abuse. Sahut added, “Education is a way to even the odds.”
The final candidate was Kaliko Santos, who has worked for OHA for 16 years translating needs and concerns for people.
“I’m so blessed to carry on the kuleana,” she said of her passion for developing relationships with decision makers in order to ensure “a strong voice to get O‘ahu to listen.”
“I just want to honor Sharon Pomroy,” Santos said during her time at the podium. “She was such a person of conviction and I will miss her because we spent time on several committees. She was very passionate about resource management, whether the ‘aina or the waters — the wai. We’re gonna have to really remember ‘cause she’s not here anymore.”
