{"id":1202,"date":"2014-09-30T05:28:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T05:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teresadawson.wordpress.com\/?p=799"},"modified":"2014-09-30T05:28:49","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T05:28:49","slug":"foia-responses-shed-light-on-council-support-of-puwalu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=1202","title":{"rendered":"FOIA Responses Shed Light on Council Support of Puwalu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Efforts by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council to incite Native Hawaiians to rise up in protest against nearshore fishery regulations go back several years. The first public manifestation of this campaign occurred in August 2006, when a puwalu, or conference, was held at the Hawai`i Convention Center in Honolulu.<\/p>\n

\tThe outcome of that conference, attended by about 100 Native Hawaiians, was a resolution \u201cto begin the process to uphold and continue Hawaiian traditional land and ocean practices into the governance and education of the Hawai`i archipelago.\u201d The resolution also called for \u201cthe perpetuation and preservation of the knowledge of practitioners and the restoration of healthy ecosystems through furtherance of the `ahupua`a management system, including konohiki management with kapu and hoa`aina rights, and the re-establishment of the `Aha Moku,\u201d or island councils.<\/p>\n

\tOver the next 14 months, four more puwalu would be held as well as a dozen or more other invitation-only meetings, all involving Hawaiians, intended to support the puwalu goals. And with each puwalu, concerns grew among council observers that the real intention behind the meetings was to undercut state management and regulation of fisheries and other marine resources nearshore waters.<\/p>\n

\tThroughout the 2007 legislative session, the goals espoused in the resolutions adopted at the puwalu were frequently invoked by people testifying in support of several bills \u2013 notably, a \u201cfreedom to fish\u201d measure that would have undercut state regulation (it failed), and another, which passed, establishing an `aha kiole committee, the first step toward setting up `aha moku.<\/p>\n

\tThe council made no secret of its support for the puwalu. In program materials, the council identified itself as \u201chost\u201d of the event, while other organizations that assisted in some way \u2013 the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, the Hawai`i Tourism Authority, Kamehameha Schools, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs \u2013 were identified as sponsors. Named as coordinator of the puwalu was the Pacific Islands Resource Management Institute, or PIRMI. The puwalu \u201cowes its success to the steadfast endeavors and commitment of Leimana and Bob DaMate of PIRMI,\u201d reads a statement in the materials distributed to those attending the conference.<\/p>\n

Follow the Funds<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

How much did the council, which is funded entirely by the federal government, end up spending on the puwalu and in support of lobbying at the state level? And was this activity approved by the council\u2019s overseers in the National Marine Fisheries Service?<\/p>\n

\tThose questions were behind a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Environment Hawai`i<\/i> with the council more than a year and a half ago. Two responses were received in the first few months (reported on in earlier issues of Environment Hawai`i<\/i>), but the final response was not received until late March.<\/p>\n

\tAccording to those records, Leimana DaMate contracted with the council for the first time in February 2006. This provided for her to be the council\u2019s \u201cHawaiian Cultural Ocean and Ecosystem Principles Coordinator.\u201d Duration of the contract was roughly 14 months, through the end of March 2007.<\/p>\n

\tThe statement of work included in the contract has a long disquisition on the deleterious impacts of regulation by \u201cforeign colonizers and immigrants:\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cGiven their long histories of sustainable use of marine resources, indigenous residents of the Western Pacific Region, including Hawai`i, have not universally embraced increasingly prohibitive management necessitated by the modern influx of foreign colonizers and immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe SOW also takes a jab at environmental groups, several of which had become increasingly critical of the council\u2019s tilt in favor of commercial fisheries interests: \u201c[S]ome recent campaigns by non-governmental organizations representing often far-off groups vigorously opposed to virtually all use of marine resources have increased what many see as the separation of local residents from the natural environment that surrounds them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tUnder contract terms, DaMate was supposed to organize at least 16 \u201ccommunity educational programs and workshops\u201d (two on Kaua`i, four on O`ahu, one each on Moloka`i and Lana`i, three on Maui, four on the Big Island, and one on Ni`ihau).<\/p>\n

\tFor this work, Damate was to be paid $50,000.<\/p>\n

\tOn August 1, DaMate and council executive director Kitty Simonds signed an amendment to the contract, adding $31,800 to DaMate\u2019s contract in return for which she was to organize three puwalu. Of the $31,800, $15,000 was for \u201ccoordinator compensation,\u201d and $16,800 was for \u201cconsultant fees.\u201d Given that the first puwalu was held just days later, the question arises as to whether the contract amendment was, in fact, made to give a fig leaf of legitimacy to payments already made to support that effort.<\/p>\n

\tChecks attached to the contract suggest that was exactly what happened. On July 11, 2006, three weeks before the contract amendment was executed, a check from the council, signed by Simonds and council chair Sean Martin, was made out to DaMate in the amount of $24,925.<\/p>\n

\tAlthough the contract was to cover services through the end of March 2007, final payment to DaMate was made in January 2007. A month later, in February, DaMate signed on as \u201c`ahupua`a puwalu planner and event contractor.\u201d The scope of work called for DaMate to organize eight community meetings \u201cto organize the `Aha Moku and `Aha Kiole,\u201d to coordinate the fourth puwalu (April 2007), and to plan for the Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committee meeting (late April).<\/p>\n

\tFor work through August 5, 2007, DaMate was to be paid $21,000.<\/p>\n

\tThe third contract with DaMate was signed in early October 2007. Again, the title of DaMate\u2019s contractual position was \u201cahupua`a puwalu planner and event coordinator, and her chief task was to organize the fifth, and final puwalu, which began later that month. For this, DaMate was paid $5,250.<\/p>\n

\tOver and above the contracts with DaMate, the Pacific Islands Resource Management Institute, described as a non-profit organization whose officers included Robert and Leimana DaMate (and whose address was also that of the DaMates), received $30,000 on a council purchase order dated August 11, 2006. This was for \u201ctravel and related expense costs associated with the Puwalu to be held August 15-17, 2006.\u201d There is only a short description of the services provided:<\/p>\n