HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

166

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

Requesting a management and financial audit of the harold l. Lyon Arboretum.

 

WHEREAS, the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is a branch of the University of Hawaii that has as its mission to coordinate, facilitate, and execute research, instruction, and service activities that utilize its collections and resources and emphasize tropical plants, native Hawaiian plants, conservation biology, and Hawaiian ethnobotany; and

WHEREAS, the Arboretum, in support of its mission statement, is responsible for:

(1) Developing a major resource center for tropical plants with a Hawaii, tropical, Pacific Basin, and Asian focus by enhancing its living plant collections and establishing an appropriate reference library and herbarium;

(2) Making its collections and information available to a broad clientele including students, researchers, industry, and the general public through appropriate outreach and educational activities and plant and seed exchange programs;

(3) Serving as an outdoor laboratory for the public and for school and university students, faculty, and researchers;

(4) Conducting an active breeding program, which identifies, selects, and propagates new plant cultivars and varieties with economic, research, or educational potential that can be released to the general public;

(5) Preserving and propagating germplasm of endangered plant species, especially those native to Hawaii, giving special attention to the use of micropropagation and tissue culture technology in conservation of native Hawaiian plants;

(6) Developing a research and training program for the restoration of Hawaiian ecosystems; and

(7) Serving as a University field station for terrestrial biology and stream biology; and

WHEREAS, the Arboretum also serves as a center for educational activities relating to plants, arts, culture, geography, and a range of other sciences, including biology, ethnobotany, and horticulture, and also serves the public in many ways; and

WHEREAS, the Arboretum is the only university botanical garden in the United States that is located in a tropical rainforest; and

WHEREAS, under the terms of Harold L. Lyon's will, the net proceeds of his estate are "to be paid to the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii and their successors in office, 'solely for the maintenance, further development and improvement of the arboretum created by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association'"; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Lyon's will further provides that:

if the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii shall at any time use income from this trust estate for purposes other than those expressed above, or if the arboretum in the land of Haukulu shall be abandoned, or if it shall by any means be removed from the direction, control or supervision of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, then the net income will be paid to the Board of Directors of the University of Minnesota for the financing of fellowships for post-graduate students in botany; and

WHEREAS, over the past three years, concerns have been raised regarding the operational and fiscal accountability of the Arboretum under the current director; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that, in the interest of the public, a fiscal and management audit of the Arboretum is warranted; and

WHEREAS, among other things, an Arboretum audit would help to:

(1) Verify and address any concerns and complaints raised about the Arboretum;

(2) Examine the efforts of the College of Natural Sciences, the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, and the President of the University of Hawaii to address any alleged concerns and complaints of mismanagement by new University of Hawaii administrators and the appropriateness of these administrators' commercial projects agendas for the Arboretum;

(3) Pinpoint any areas of weakness within the Arboretum that need to be addressed;

(4) Provide a baseline assessment of any efforts and actions currently being taken by the Arboretum to address concerns and remedy any problems; and

(5) Recommend possible solutions to any concerns and problems existing at or within the Arboretum; and

WHEREAS, an Arboretum audit would further serve to improve the services and care of the Arboretum and maximize staff efficiency and the prudent use of resources by the Arboretum; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that the Auditor is requested to perform a management and financial audit of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to address the issues raised in this Resolution -- particularly any alleged concerns and complaints of mismanagement by new University of Hawaii administrators and issues of the appropriateness of the administrators' commercial project agendas for the Arboretum -- and other related issues and report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Auditor, Chairperson of the Board of Regents and President of the University of Hawaii, the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, and the Director of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Requesting a management and financial audit of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum; University of Hawaii; Board of Regents.