STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3560

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 891, 892

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 891 and 892, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

 

Island Burial Council, Island of Hawai'i

 

G.M. No. 891

MARY MAXINE KAHAULELIO,

for a term to expire 6-30-2015; and

 

G.M. No. 892

KEITH UNGER,

for a term to expire 6-30-2015,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds Mary Maxine Kahaulelio and Keith Unger to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Island Burial Council, Island of Hawaii.

 

MARY MAXINE KAHAULELIO

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Mary Maxine Kahaulelio from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committee finds that Ms. Kahaulelio's understanding of the Native Hawaiian culture and history and practices relating to burials comes from her childhood growing up in Pauoa, Oahu, and visiting Kawaihao Church.  The nominee has served on the Island Burial Council in an interim capacity since September 2011.

 

     Ms. Kahaulelio has a distinguished record of community service on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu, including service on the Waimea Hawaiian Homestead Association and Kipuupuu o Puukapu Hawaiian Homestead.  Ms. Kahaulelio has also served the Koolauloa Welfare Rights Group, Queen Liliuokalani Children's Center, and the Koolauloa Hawaiian Civic Club.  The nominee is a resident of Hawaiian homelands in Kamuela, Hawaii, and worked for the Department of Education for thirty years.

 

KEITH UNGER

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Keith Unger from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Division, Kahua Ranch, and four individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that Mr. Unger is the General Manager for McCandless Land and Cattle Company and has been with the company since 1992.  In this role, Mr. Unger oversees the company's 5,600 acres on the island of Hawaii.  As a licensed real estate broker in Kailua-Kona since 1987, Mr. Unger is familiar with the development community and process and has had the opportunity to develop several of his own projects.  The nominee's service as Land Issues Chairman for the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, as Associate Director for the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District, and as a member of the Alala Recovery Team allows him to work with the large landowner and ranching communities on a regular basis.  The nominee has been serving on the Island Burial Council in an interim capacity since August 2011.

 

     Mr. Unger's personal experience with the burial council process gives him a unique perspective.  After the nominee encountered ancestral remains on a five-acre lot that he owned and intended to develop, he secured the necessary approvals for a burial treatment plan.  With the burial treatment plan in place, Mr. Unger completed development of an open-air market.  A fourth generation kamaaina and life-long resident of the Big Island, Mr. Unger's skills, experiences, and deep roots on the island of Hawaii will aid the Island Burial Council.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

 

 

 

____________________________

BRICKWOOD GALUTERIA, Chair