The Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC) recently honored William J. Ailā Jr. for service to the beneficiary community in his capacity as HHC chairperson and director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL).
Resolution No. 305, highlighting Ailā’s achievements, was passed at DHHL’s Dec. 19 regular meeting.
Ailā officially left the post on Dec. 30 to retire from his 37-year career as a public servant of the State of Hawaii. Prior to taking over the lead role at the agency in 2019, he served for five years as deputy to former Chair Jobie Masagatani.
“I want to extend my gratitude to the Hawaiian Homes Commission and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands staff for their confidence in my leadership and for allowing me to serve our community,” Ailā said in a news release from Gov. Josh Green’s office. “I would also like to acknowledge my Executive Assistant and former Chair Jobie Masagatani and Deputy Tyler Iokepa Gomes for their efforts to advance this program. It has been an honor and a privilege to contribute to fulfilling the vision of Prince Kūhiō.”
The release praised Ailā for expanding the Department’s administrative rules, commemorating the 100th centennial of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, breaking ground on several new homestead projects, navigating through the initial steps of DHHL’s first rental project, offering homestead lots of every island, and guiding the Department through the COVID-19 pandemic including the distribution of millions of dollars in federal rental subsidies for the Native Hawaiian Community.
In addition to his service to the native Hawaiian community in his roles with DHHL, Ailā is a former chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and former head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Ailā leaves DHHL with an unprecedented allocation of $600 million to address the housing needs of native Hawaiians.