Big Isle senators criticize Ige for lack of action on regent nomination

Gov. David Ige made the 4:30 p.m. Friday deadline to submit nominations for three seats on the University of Hawaii Board of Regents to the state Senate for confirmation.

The only seat he missed is the one that’s vacant. The other three become vacant July 1.

That raises concerns for Big Island legislators and educators who say the East Hawaii seat needs to be filled as soon as possible, since it’s been empty for seven months. The seat was vacated by the early September resignation of Barry Mizuno, who died Nov. 26.

“It’s inexcusable, it’s irresponsible,” an obviously frustrated Sen. Kai Kahele said Saturday. “There’s many important issues for the university system, and there’s no one sitting at the table for East Hawaii.”

A Democrat representing the Hilo area, Kahele is chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. That’s the committee that will evaluate the regent nominees before they go to the full Senate for confirmation.

Sen. Lorraine Inouye, a North Hawaii Democrat, said she’s also frustrated by the lack of action.

“The governor has no reason not to fill his obligation to fill that seat,” Inouye said, adding that announcements about the deadline were made on the Senate floor daily in the week leading up to it.

The 15-member Board of Regents is a volunteer board that governs the state university system.

The University of Hawaii Candidate Advisory Council submitted the names of four East Hawaii finalists to the governor March 9.

Eight days prior, it submitted three candidates each for three other board positions — an at-large seat, an Oahu seat and a Kauai seat. All those seats have active incumbents, with new board members to take over July 1.

Nominations were log-jammed because the Candidate Advisory Council itself lacked a quorum and had to await nominations from Ige. It reached a quorum, full voting capability, sometime after January.

A spokeswoman for the governor said Monday the office is working on it.

“The governor and staff … are currently in the process of contacting the applicants and vetting them,” press secretary Jodi Leong said. “The governor will take the time he needs to make the best decisions.”

At least two of the candidates, who asked that their names not be used, said they hadn’t been contacted as of Monday.

Leong said Ige has in the past appointed interim members, where a member can sit on a board or commission until confirmed by the Senate during the next regular or special session. A spokeswoman for the Board of Regents said interim members can vote and will fulfill quorum just like a confirmed member.

Jerry Chang, director of University of Hawaii at Hilo university relations, said he’d like to see an interim regent appointed, at minimum, if one can’t be nominated in time for Senate confirmation.

The Big Island does have one sitting regent, Wayne Higaki, who represents West Hawaii. He couldn’t be reached for comment Monday, but said in January the Board of Regents tends to take a statewide look at issues, so that helps overcome the representation shortfall.

“The beauty of the way it works today is all of the regents represent the entire state,” Higaki said in that earlier interview. “But it’s always better to have the full complement. … It’s better to have both regents representing the island.”

The East Hawaii finalists are:

• Veterinarian William Bergin, husband of retired longtime educator Patricia Bergin.

• Douglas Shinsato, co-founder of Anthill Ventures, a “cross-border incubator and advisor to technology startups located in India, Southeast Asia, Europe and the US,” according to an online biography posted on UH’s website.

• Douglas Simons, executive director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

• Harvey Tajiri, a former county council member, former member of the state House of Representatives and former UH Board of Regents member.

Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.