Formation of Mauna Kea working group on target despite boycott

The nomination deadline will come Monday for Native Hawaiians who want to serve on a volunteer panel newly created by the state House of Representative to propose a new governance and management structure for Mauna Kea.

House Speaker Scott Saiki said he had received at least 19 applications for the seven Native Hawaiian positions despite a campaign by some groups urging a boycott of the committee.

The 15-member working group, established by House Resolution 33, calls for a chairperson, seven government members and seven Native Hawaiian members. It was given a year to make its recommendations in a report.

The effort follows the results of an independent report that criticized Mauna Kea leaseholder University of Hawaii for falling short of adequately reaching out to the Native Hawaiian community in its oversight of the mountain.

According to the resolution, the failure of the university to properly consult with Native Hawaiians has led to mistrust and polarization within the community.

The nomination deadline for the Native Hawaiian members was originally set for April 5, but it was extended for three weeks to coincide with the final week of the legislative session and to allow the public to learn more about the working group, according to a House news release.

“The problem is they can’t find the kind of people they want to go on there,” said Healani Sonoda-Pale, spokeswoman for Ka Lahui Hawaii Komike Kalai‘aina.

Sonoda-Pale said Ka Lahui Hawaii has been urging a boycott because of the involvement of Saiki, who is a staunch supporter of the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope, the $2.4 billion project planned for Mauna Kea that is at odds with a large cross-section of Hawaiians.

Sonoda-Pale said Saiki needs Hawaiians to legitimize the panel’s work.

“We’ve been telling people not to go on there. It’s a trap,” she said.

Kealoha Pisciotta, leader of the Mauna Kea Hui, agreed, saying management of the mountain is intended to distract from what she described as the real issues of human and civil rights violations, and constitutional protections denied to those who hold Hawaii’s tallest mountain in extreme reverence.

Like the first Mauna Kea working group established in 2000 by the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, Pisciotta said, the latest iteration is likely to ignore the Native Hawaiians who don’t want the TMT and other development desecrating the mountain’s summit.

The effort, Pisciotta said, is designed to create confusion and divide the Hawaiian community.

“We don’t have to participate in our own demise.” she said. “They need your consent to screw you over. That’s an old trick, and we’re not going to fall for it anymore.”

But Saiki insisted it’s not about the TMT. He said it’s about creating a new governance structure that would then decide whether the TMT is acceptable for Mauna Kea.

Saiki said he expected to be the target of criticism.

“Mauna Kea is a tough issue, and we need to take it on and resolve this,” he said.

According to the resolution, Saiki, as speaker, will appoint 11 of the 15 members, including the chairperson, three House members and the seven Native Hawaiians.

Four members have already been named:

>> Sterling Wong, chief advocate of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, who will represent OHA.

>> Robert K. Masuda, first deputy of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, representing the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

>> Bonnie Irwin, chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, who will represent the UH Board of Regents.

>> Rich Matsuda, interim chief operating officer at the W.M. Keck Observatory, representing the Maunakea Observatories.

Saiki said the rest of the panel would be named in about a week after Monday’s nomination deadline, and the group would commence its duties sometime in May.

Saiki said he hasn’t decided whether to appoint himself to the working group. Whether he does or not, he said he plans to be heavily involved, providing support to the House initiative.

The nomination form is available at 808ne.ws/3xmxhdt. Nominations are due by 4:30 p.m. Monday.