A new state agency has begun the process of eventually taking over management of Maunakea’s summit area.
The Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, which was formed during last year’s legislative session, will in five years replace the University of Hawaii’s Center for Maunakea Stewardship as manager of the summit lands.
The authority, composed of a 12-person board, on Tuesday held its first public meeting of 2023 — its second meeting ever after an initial session in November — kicking off a planned series of monthly public meetings throughout the year.
But amid the discussions about the authority’s administrative housekeeping, board members sought to clarify how much power the authorityactually has.
Board member Lanakila Mangauil raised a concern toward the end of the meeting addressing what he called a viral video that circulated on social media during the holidays. In that video, he said, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners were attempting to access the summit of Maunakea, but were told they were not able to do so by a Maunakea ranger because dangerous weather conditions had closed the Maunakea Access Road.
“The ranger — I would say, very inappropriately — steps in to say that he had personally spoken with myself as well as (fellow board member Noe Noe Wong-Wilson), and that, as we are in charge now, we had said that it is inappropriate to go up the mauna while the road is closed,” Mangauil said, adding that the video triggered a stream of “very negative comments” toward himself, Wong-Wilson and the Authority in general.
Greg Chun, UH’s executive director of Maunakea Stewardship, said during Tuesday’s meeting that the incident was the result of the ranger misinterpreting an earlier conversation he had with the Authority’s board members.
But Mangauil noted that the issue raised concerns that the general public is unaware or confused about who is currently in charge of what on the mountain.
Authority board chair John Komeiji said that until July 1, the board is concerned primarily with organizational setup.
“We have not yet addressed the subject as to whether we have any ability to make any substantive decisions. For example, do we take control of the (access road)?” Komeiji said. “What we’ve been counseled is that we have authority to take up organizational building tasks — such as, do we have standing committees, do we have officers, do we have employees — but nothing in terms of substantive decisions. At this time, that’s what we’re currently working under, that understanding.”
Both the meeting on Tuesday and the one in November featured extensive executive sessions during which the board consulted with the Authority’s attorney about its powers and responsibilities. Like all executive sessions, those discussions were not publicly viewable.
Outside of questions about the Authority’s powers, the board announced at the Tuesday meeting the creation of a permitted interaction group, led by Wong-Wilson, to make further recommendations about the Authority’s organizational structure and staffing needs.
Komeiji also said he and Wong-Wilson today will discuss with members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee the Authority’s $14 million budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.