Director of the Office of Planning Confirmed by Senate with Reservations

On April 4, 2008, the Hawaii State Senate confirmed Mr. Abbey S. Mayer to the position of Director of the Office of Planning.

Voting on the confirmation was as follows:

Confirmed. Ayes, 13. Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Baker, Bunda, Espero, Hanabusa, Kokubun, Nishihara, Taniguchi, Tokuda. Noes, 12 (Senator(s) Chun Oakland, English, Fukunaga, Gabbard, Hee, Hooser, Ige, Inouye, Kim, Menor, Sakamoto, Tsutsui). Excused, 0 (none).

According to Senate Standing Committee Report No. 3338, the Committee expressed strong reservations over the nomination of Mr. Mayer for reasons which included: "the nominee did not exhibit a satisfactory familiarity with the governing statute of the Office of Planning chapter 225M, Hawaii Revised Statutes"; "the nominee's training and educational background is not related to the fields specified in section 225M-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes," and "[c]oncern over the Administration not heeding the Legislature's desire to have a nominee with a solid planning background supported by a track record of many years of service and tenure in the State of Hawaii."

The Commission heard over eight hours of testimony with forty-nine people in favor and seventy-four people against his appointment.

Mr. Mayer's term will expire on December 6, 2010.

The complete Report can be found at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/commreports/GM258_SSCR3338_.htm.