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.
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
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About the Author
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Chad Blair is the politics editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at cblair@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at .