Civil Beat has asked candidates for the Hawaiʻi General Election on Nov. 3 to answer a survey about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following comes from Brendon Kalei’āina Lee, nonpartisan candidate for Office of Hawaiian Affairs at-large trustee.

His opponents are Adrian Kealiʻi Akina, Ikaika Anderson, Karl Baker, Shelby Billionaire, Jackie Burke, Michelle Costello, Kanekoa Crabbe, Brickwood Galuteria, Clifford Kauaula, Philip Martin, Ronald Nihipali, Kalena Parish, Keoni Souza and John Waiheʻe IV.

Go to Civil Beat’s 2026 Elections Guide for general information, and check out the other candidates on Civil Beatʻs 2026 Hawaiʻi Primary Ballot.

Why are you best suited for the job of OHA trustee? And why do you want the job?

During my previous term as a trustee at-large it was my vision and work that moved OHA to its current endowment model. It was also my vision and collaboration with the OHA land division that produced the acquisition of the new Iwilei properties. I also formed the ad hoc committee to look into OHA’s ability to issue revenue bonds, which never got followed up on after I left office. I want the job to continue the work I started and develop actual affordable housing for Native Hawaiians.

What do you see as the most pressing problem facing Native Hawaiians, and what is the first thing you would do to address it in the first six months after being elected

Affordable housing is the most pressing issue for Native Hawaiians. What I would do in the first six months will depend greatly on who is elected by the board of trustees to be the new chair of the board. If there is an amenable chair, putting out an Request For Proposal (RFP) for a consultant to develop Iwilei with very specific parameters with affordable housing and multi-use ground floor plans will be top priority.

Here’s a question from a constituent: What are your plans to economically uplift more Hawaiians? Protect the ʻāina?

Everything starts with stable and affordable housing. When you have a safe place to call home, studies have shown that many other deterring factors to economic stability are less prevalent. When these other factors are no longer in the equation, those individuals tend to make greater strides in their careers or starting new businesses. While a trustee I supported every effort by OHA to hold those who steward our ʻāina accountable.

OHA Trustees received a salary increase of 62% last June. Do you support the raise, and what will you do to ensure you are worth the money?

I do support the raise. While it may seem like a lot to some, trustees have not received a pay raise since 2016 and before the raise were making less than their aides. While I was a trustee, I was the only trustee that followed the investment policy that requires trustees attend a minimum of two financial investment trainings a year. One of those trainings took me to Yale University to attend the CommonFund investment stewardship investment academy.

What should OHA advocate for as negotiations continue over Army training land leases?

OHA should continue to advocate for fair compensation for use of our lands. One of the key reasons OHA was created in 1978 was to hold the state accountable to its responsibility to Native Hawaiians and the lands it holds in trust.

OHA dropped two lawsuits last year over Mauna Kea and decided that those resources would be directed to stewardship of that mountain. What types of activities or programs should those funds support?

OHA should support activities and programs that work to reforest the lower elevations. While the clean up of the summit is top priority, those efforts need to be paid for by the entities that created those issues. Reforesting the lower elevations will support the habitat of the whole moku puni.

A new 12-member authority that includes members of the protest movement who opposed the TMT, as well as astronomers is set to take over stewardship of Mauna Kea by 2029. Could the new management structure help resolve long-standing disputes? And how do you see OHA working with entities that have interests in Mauna Kea, including major landowners at lower elevations?

By removing the conflict of interest of the University of Hawaii, I do believe the new management structure is a step in the right direction. At the very least there will now be open dialog, which did not usually happen with the old management structure. I can see OHA needing to collaborate with lower-elevation landowners with regard to reforesting efforts. As a part of the overall management, OHA was intentionally left off the board.

For decades, OHA believes the state has shortchanged its beneficiaries on payments from the use of public lands. The Legislature has cleared a way for a working group to determine an annual amount of revenue due to OHA. What do you want to see come out of that process? And what should OHA allocate any additional revenues toward?

The first thing I would hope see come out of this process would be to finally have a true inventory of all ceded lands so there is no dispute over the inventory in the future. Once the true inventory is established then I would want to see OHA receive the 20% of revenues it is owed. These additional funds would allow OHA to expand its current programming and allow for new programs to be considered.

OHA has attempted to develop residential towers in Kakaʻako Makai. However, those efforts have been repeatedly rejected by the Legislature, stalling any development for the last 20 years. How should OHA move forward on lands it owns in this area?

I laid out a comprehensive plan for Kakaʻako Makai in my Kawai Ola trustee monthly columns in 2022 before I left office. These plans would not require any height or housing variances from the state Legislature. It would allow for cultural, commercial and various other multi-use projects that would turn Kaka’ako Makai into an economically sustainable and vibrant waterfront hub.

Last year, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that OHA trustees are subject to the state ethics code that governs the conduct of state employees and is intended to prevent things like nepotism, fraud and conflicts of interest. How would you, as a trustee, uphold the ethics code and ensure transparency at OHA?

I always believed that OHA trustees were subject to the state ethics code, which I followed as a trustee. I would continue to follow the state ethics code as I did in my prior term in office.

There has often been tension between the Board of Trustees and OHA administrators. In just the latest example, the current chief executive officer has sued the board. What can be done to ease those tensions between administrators and trustees?

Unfortunately in the recent past administrators have been given a free hand as the leadership of the board was not competent in recognizing when the board’s authority was being usurped. When the board as a whole is either incompetent or absent this leads to miscommunications or lack of any communications with the board. Unfortunately this has shown a weakness in board governance. New policies need to be put into place to safeguard from this happening in the future.

Are there ways for the office to work more collaboratively with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to address the housing shortage for Native Hawaiians?

While I believe OHA should be doing more for housing of Native Hawaiians, it is not OHA’s responsibility to help fund DHHL. The State of Hawaii has a trust responsibility that it agreed to as a condition of statehood in 1959 and they should be held accountable to that. OHA should be addressing housing for the rest of the Native Hawaiian population that is not able to take advantage of DHHL.