MACHADO OUSTED IN OHA RACE - PRO TRANSPARENCY CANDIDATE ELECTED
Hawai`i Public Radio - November 5, 2020
Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Collette Machado was voted out of office Tuesday, after more than 24 years on the job.
This could mean some big changes, not only for Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi – the two islands she represents – but for the overall direction of the OHA Board of Trustees.
Hawaiʻi voters chose political newcomer and former beauty queen Luana Alapa to replace Machado.
Alapa says she was ecstatic when she heard the news and she hasn’t been able to sleep since. "Being a brand new candidate and going up against an incumbent and sitting chairwoman – that was huge. So we knew what we were up against but I think the theme for people was change," Alapa said.
She campaigned for greater transparency and accountability in OHA spending.
A 2019 audit of OHA found as much as $7.8 million in potentially fraudulent, wasteful, or abusive spending.
"A lot of negative fallout has happened because things aren’t, you know, transparent. This is a public state agency, by the way, it’s not a Hawaiian entity. It’s a state agency that serves Hawaiian people. We have a right to understand where the monies are going."
Alapa defeated Machado by nearly 39,000 votes.
Healani Sonoda-Pale, an analyst with political action committee Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻ, says she isnʻt surprised. "What it tells us is what’s more concerning for kanaka maoli this year is how well OHA manages the finances and because of the audit that have been scathing...it has affected this election. At a time when we are in an economic crunch, money matters," she said.
