Public commenters urge caution on gaming bill; trustees hear updates on iwi kupuna interment and staffing incentives

Public commenters and trustees used the community concerns portion of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees meeting to raise issues including opposition to proposed gaming legislation, progress on returning iwi kupuna, and staff recruitment updates.

Germaine Myers, who identified herself as an OHA beneficiary and Nanakuli Hawaiian homestead lessee, urged trustees to reconsider OHA’s written support for HCR 192 and warned of harms from legalizing gambling. Myers said administration submitted written testimony "in strong support" of HCR 192 to the House Committee on Tourism but that trustees were not informed before some committee meetings. She criticized the bill’s premise that gaming would reduce poverty among Native Hawaiians and argued it would increase gambling access and related social harms for families: "To say gaming is a way to take native Hawaiians out of poverty is exploiting our people."

Myers cited Department of Health materials about the negative health effects of gambling and raised concerns about law‑enforcement capacity, noting vacancies in the Honolulu Police Department and potential increases in domestic violence and trafficking associated with gambling expansion.

Trustees also received an update from Kapuana (staff), who described a site visit to the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai to review preservation and interment processes for iwi kupuna. Kapuana said PMRF maintains a crypt (referred to in the discussion as the Lua Kupapau or Noheili Crypt) that holds remains interred during a summer‑solstice ceremony and that PMRF involves lineal descendants in decisions about whether remains should be preserved in place or reinterred. Kapuana described dune restoration work and preservation measures such as sandbags and roped‑off areas to protect burial sites.

Trustees asked questions about land status and jurisdiction. A trustee noted that PMRF land includes federal property, state leases and other combinations of tenure, and that some leases across the state (including areas referenced in the discussion) expire around 2029; the trustees said the Navy was conducting environmental review (EIS) work related to those leases.

The board also heard staff updates on recruitment. Trustees were told that a signing bonus program and targeted hiring efforts have increased applications for hard‑to‑fill positions in grants and public policy; staff said interviews were being scheduled and that a $500 employee referral bonus remains in effect. One trustee announced planned travel as part of a fellowship to study Indigenous models of decolonization in Palau and Aotearoa; the trustee said they would use vacation time and expected to report back to the board after the trip.

No formal board action was taken on the public commenter’s request regarding HCR 192 during this session; Myers’ remarks were recorded as community concerns for the public record.