Widow seeks contested-case hearing after DHHL successor letter; commission to consider request next month

Diana Lokelani Kama told the Hawaiian Homes Commission she is seeking a contested‑case hearing after a DHHL West Hawaiʻi office letter concluded she did not qualify as successor to her late husband’s homestead lease because the couple had divorced before his death.

“I’m here today pleading to you because my husband waited 45 years to get awarded this home,” said Diana Lokelani Kama, describing that her late husband, Rupert Noah Kama Jr., had named her as primary successor and that a divorce decree also awarded her the house. She told the commission she and her husband worked together to repair the home and that she has remained living there. She said she qualified for beneficiary status at 50 percent Hawaiian blood quantum.

Commissioners and staff discussed next steps. Commissioner Dennis Neves said the matter “is a contested case at this point” and recommended filing. Chair Watson and staff said DHHL would take Kama’s letter as a request for a contested case hearing and that the department would “administratively…present it to the commission for action to approve a contested case hearing” at the next regular meeting.

Commissioners advised Kama about the contested‑case process and suggested a hearing officer would review evidence and make a recommendation before commission action. No formal hearing date was set; staff committed to notify Kama after the department’s administrative review and the commission’s action on the request.

Ending: The commission recorded the request and asked staff to present a recommendation at the next meeting; the department did not make a final eligibility determination during the session.