Editor鈥檚 Note: Our popular public employees salaries database is back. This year, we鈥檝e combined all agencies in a single database; but we are still breaking out stories on state and city departments individually. Today: the Department of Education.

The employs 164 people to help it achieve its mission of聽improving the conditions of Native Hawaiians.

Ten of those employees earn salaries in the six-figure range. Another four earn from $91,000 to $99,000.

At the top of the list is Kamana’opono Crabbe, OHA鈥檚 chief executive officer, who makes $150,000 annually 鈥 nearly three times the salary of eight of OHA鈥檚 nine trustees, who each earn about $56,000. Trustee Robert Lindsey, chair of the Board of Trustees, makes $64,000.

Kamana'opono Crabbe.
Kamana’opono Crabbe is the executive director of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and its top-paid employee. PF Bentley/Civil Beat

Crabbe sparked聽a controversy in 2014 when he聽sought a legal opinion from then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry聽on Hawaii鈥檚 sovereign status. It spotlighted the disagreement among Native Hawaiians about whether they should be seeking federal recognition as a sovereign people or complete independence from the United States.

At the low end of the OHA pay scale, community outreach coordinators and intake and referral specialists make from $30,000 to $40,000.

Created at the state鈥檚 Constitutional Convention of 1978, OHA is focused on the issues of land (aina), culture, economic self-sufficiency, education, governance and health.

OHA is a semi-autonomous 鈥渟elf-governing body鈥 that depends on a revenue stream set by the Legislature. OHA鈥檚 leaders have argued that the agency should get a greater share of money from ceded lands 鈥 the current level is about $15 million 鈥 but the Legislature has not agreed.

OHA has an office in Washington, D.C., to advocate for its interests with聽the federal government. The agency is the state鈥檚 13th-largest landowner, and its holdings include Kakaako Makai and the former Gentry Pacific Design Center, where OHA offices are located.

With corporate headquarters in Honolulu and a $36 million core operating budget, OHA is聽at the center of Native Hawaiian affairs.

OHA has been in the news recently for rescinding its support for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea, efforts toward federal recognition of Native Hawaiians similar to that of other indigenous groups in America, and helping to fund the Nai Aupuni self-determination convention.

OHA was one of many government agencies that provided specific salaries or pay ranges for tens of thousands of public employees in response to Civil Beat鈥檚 request. Previous articles focused on the City and County of Honolulu,听state government, the University of Hawaii system and the Department of Education.

The massive database at the bottom of this article can be searched by department, name, job title or salary range. (Department of Education salaries are also searchable by district or location.)

To find the highest-paid employees, type in a starting salary figure of, say, $100,000 for a given department. But to understand the big picture of public employee compensation, you might want to look at the lower-end salaries as well.

Here’s are the highest-paid Office of Hawaiian Affairs employees聽as of last July 1:

Name Department Title Salary

碍补尘补苍补辞辫辞苍辞听Crabbe

Executive Office

Chief Executive Officer

$150,000

尝颈蝉补听Victor

Executive Office Chief Operating聽Officer

$138,000

贬补飞濒别测听Iona

Resource Management – Financial Asset

Chief Financial Officer / Resource Management Director

$125,496

Carolyn 聽Abad

Community Engagement

聽Community Engagement Director

$125,496

Lisa Watkins-聽Victorino Research 聽Research Director

$125,496

James聽Kawika 聽Riley

Advocacy Chief Advocate

$125,496

Ernest 聽Kimoto

Executive Office

Senior Legal Counsel $118,188

Harold Nedd

Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees Chief of Staff

$106,584

Patrick Rogers

Advocacy

Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief

$100,236

Timmy 聽奥补颈濒别丑耻补听听

Resource Management – Financial Asset

NHRLF Manager

$100,008

John Kim

Resource Management – Financial Asset

Controller

$99,360

Allen Kam

Resource Management – Land Asset

Commercial Property Manager

$93,084

Albert 聽Tiberi

Executive Office

Asst Senior Legal Counsel / Risk Mgmt Officer

$91,296

Jim 聽McMahon

Advocacy

Counsel for Policy and Compliance Svcs

$91,296

Leanne Fox

Executive Office

Executive Manager to CEO

$88,908

Keith 聽Yabusaki

Resource Management – Financial Asset

Transitional Assistance Manager

$88,908

James Patterson

Research

Program Improvement Manager

$88,908

Sterling Wong

Advocacy

Public Policy Manager

$88,908

叠别苍箩补尘颈苍听Lindsey

Advocacy

Papahanaumokuakea Manager

$88,908

贰诲飞颈苍补听Minglana

Executive Office

Human Resource Manager

$88,620

贰濒濒颈辞迟迟听Markell

Advocacy

Compliance Manager

$86,868

闯辞苍补迟丑补苍听Ching

Resource Management – Land Asset

Land and Property Manager

$86,292

顿别谤别办听Kauanoe

Advocacy

Governance Manager

$86,292

搁补测尘辞苍诲听Matsuura

Resource Management – Financial Asset

Investment Manager

$85,008

 

Civil Beat Database of Public Employee Salaries

to load this Caspio .

Support Independent, Unbiased News

Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in 贬补飞补颈驶颈. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.

 

About the Author