Frequent Withdrawals Of Nominees Hinder Green’s Efforts To Fill Boards And Commissions
More than 10% of the governor鈥檚 nominees have been pulled back this year.
Of the more than 200 gubernatorial nominations submitted to the Hawaii State Senate since January for 97 boards and commissions, 25 of them were later withdrawn.
That compares to just eight withdrawals in Gov. David. Ige’s second year in office and includes in the past two weeks.
The Office of the Governor said reasons for the withdrawals include personal issues and work obligations. And some nominations were unnecessary.
To be sure, Gov. Josh Green has seen high-profile nominations confirmed this session such as Mufi Hannemann as chair of the Hawaii Tourism Authority Board of Directors and Roy Takumi as chair of the Board of Education.
And Green鈥檚 pick to serve on the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, Michael Miyahira, easily cleared a Senate committee and was approved by the full Senate this week.
But the prominent withdrawals in Green’s second year include Warren Haruki, who had been tagged by Green in January to continue serving as chair of the BOE before he suddenly stepped down this spring. Vacancies can impact decision-making and weaken oversight.
Green also nominated former Judge R. Mark Browning for the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission. It did not actually require confirmation, however, so the governor apologized for the inconvenience in a later message to the Senate.
And attorney Benjamin Kudo was nominated for the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, then withdrawn because it was believed he did not require confirmation, and then resubmitted again when it turned out that he did. Kudo was confirmed by the full Senate on March 28.
Elizabeth Char, former director of the Department of Health, was selected by Green 鈥 a fellow medical doctor 鈥 to serve on the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board. But that nomination was rescinded just one week after it was submitted in January.
And educator Jan Iwase and Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters official Edmund Aczon withdrew their names from consideration for the School Facilities Authority. All told, the withdrawals represent about 10% of the total submitted to the Senate, which hears confirmations.
According to the governor鈥檚 office, nominations will be revisited after the session ends May 3 and interim appointments are considered 鈥渢o ensure continuity and quorum.鈥
A Lot Of Pukas To Fill
Governors often struggle to find the right people willing to serve on boards and commissions. In Ige鈥檚 first year in office, for example, he faced nearly 350 vacancies.
Both Ige and Green have seen some of their nominees rejected by the Senate, a humbling process that plays out in public.
The workload of a board or commission member can be taxing, too, as seen during the Covid pandemic when many testifiers shared their anger over school restriction policies at BOE meetings.
The Hawaii State Ethics Commission earlier this month extended its deadline to submit applications to fill a vacancy.
And a number of top boards and commissions require financial disclosures of members, which has resulted in some people declining to serve.
Boards and commissions are established through the Hawaii Constitution, state statute and executive orders. Some of them are very powerful, like the Board of Land and Natural Resources. Others are obscure, such as the Board of Massage Therapy and the Board of Private Detectives and Guards.
But the positions need to be filled, and that鈥檚 why a governor is always looking for candidates for the generally volunteer gigs.
The Legislature is in the habit of creating new boards and commissions, adding to a governor’s workload. For example, his administration was tasked this year with naming seven people to the eight-member State Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Plus Commission, which was created in 2022.
And some of the panels have a lot of members, too, including the Land Use Commission, which has nine. Four of the commissioners were selected by Green this session and confirmed.
In another indication of how it can be difficult to find candidates, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission earlier this month extended its deadline to submit applications to fill a vacancy.
Anyone interested in serving on a state board or commission can visit .
Current vacancies, according , include at-large seats on the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission and the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.
