Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees will be “servant leaders at our people’s table,” said newly elected chairman Robert Lindsey at an investiture of board members Wednesday in Honolulu.
Lindsey, who has served on the Board of Trustees since April 2007, is the only Hawaii Island representative on the nine-member board.
He said after the event that his focus by necessity must shift to the state as a whole, now that he’s been named chairman.
“It has been a tremendous honor the past few years to strictly focus on putting Hawaii Island issues front and center on the agendas of state and federal policy makers,” Lindsey said in a statement. “But as the board’s new chairman, my focus has shifted to bringing new attention, needed resources and a strong policy voice to issues that affect Native Hawaiians on all islands across the state.”
But Hawaii Island won’t be neglected, he added.
“At the same time, OHA beneficiaries on Hawaii Island can take comfort in knowing that they too stand to benefit from the high standards that I expect my colleagues to apply to fulfilling our obligations to all of our beneficiaries,” he said.
OHA’s board is charged with setting OHA policy and managing the semi-autonomous state agency’s substantial trust for the benefit of OHA beneficiaries. The trust includes more than 28,000 acres of land and $600 million in financial and land assets, according to OHA’s 2013 annual report.
Hawaii Island has both the highest percentage of pure Hawaiians and residents reporting some Hawaiian blood in the state, according to the 2010 census. Some 8.5 percent of the island’s population is pure Hawaiian, compared to 5.9 percent statewide. In addition, 29.7 percent on Hawaii Island say they have some Hawaiian blood, compared to 21.3 percent statewide.
More than 400 people attended the investiture at Central Union Church, a ceremony that was live-streamed on OHA’s website.
Lindsey succeeds Colette Machado, the trustee for Native Hawaiians on Molokai and Lanai who has led OHA’s Board of Trustees the past four years.