Kali Watson will not seek reappointment at the end of this year as director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, state officials announced Friday.
Appointed by Gov. Josh Green in 2023, Watson was responsible for overseeing the development of thousands of homes and the implementation of a $600 million state settlement with DHHL. He previously served as chair from 1995 to 1998 under Gov. Ben Cayetano.
Under Watson’s leadership, the DHHL offered more than 5,300 leases. The department projects the offering of nearly 4,900 leases in 2027.
“That is some of the most important work we’ve done in our first term and Kali helped make it happen,” Governor Green said in the DHHL release Friday.
DHHL is tasked with administering a 100-year-old federal law guaranteeing land to Hawaiians who can prove a 50% blood quantum. Nearly 30,000 people are on its ever-growing waitlist.
The department was recently sued over its blood quantum requirements. That lawsuit, threatens to undermine more than two dozen projects to develop thousands of homestead lots.
Watson had previously stated the department would fight that legal challenge.
In July, Green announced he would be reappointing Watson as chair of the commission. The resignation letter gives no reason for Watson suddenly stepping down.
DeMont Kalai Manaole, a Native Hawaiian activist, said he wants a reason why.
“I’m shocked,” he said. “And I’m entitled to answers as a trust beneficiary.”
Kalai Manaole suspects Watson was forced out due to a recent partnership between DHHL and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to develop Kakaʻako Makai.
OHA has long struck out on efforts to lift a ban on residential development that would allow it to construct housing units on lands it owns in Kakaʻako Makai. DHHL, however, has special development powers granted to it by Congress that make it exempt from the zoning restrictions that previously blocked the housing project.
But there have been differing opinions over whether the housing should be built. The governor and some in the Legislature, Kalai Manaole said, don’t want to see Kakaʻako Makai developed. During the recent election, candidates for OHA trustee also expressed a wide range of opinions about the future of the Honolulu land.
“It’s an amazing thing that happened with DHHL and OHA joining forces, we’ve been wanting that for decades,” Kalai Manaole said.
Watson’s last day will be Dec. 31. In the DHHL release Friday, he said he planned to explore opportunities with OHA, the Aliʻi Trust and other community organizations.
“Governor Green, mahalo for your trust, your support, and the opportunity to serve,” Watson said in a DHHL release Friday. “You understood that behind every name on our waiting list is a person, an ʻohana, and a hope that has too often been deferred.”
