Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 186, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of:

begs leave to report as follows:

Upon review of the testimony and statements submitted by the nominees, your Committee finds that Pravin Desai, Steven Lee Montgomery, Ph.D., and Randall F. Sakumoto have the necessary character, experience, and qualifications to serve on the Land Use Commission.

Testimony in support of the three nominees was received from the Land Use Commission. Additional testimony in support of Steven Lee Montgomery was received from Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd., Sierra Club Hawai`i Chapter, Kawai Nui Heritage Foundation, and eight individuals. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, BIA-Hawaii, and nine individuals submitted testimony in support of Randall F. Sakumoto.

Pravin Desai is President and Chief Executive Office of CDS International, and holds a degree in architecture from the University of Southern California. He has extensive experience in Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, and Asia in housing, resorts and hotels, shopping centers and shops, office buildings, and health care and educational facilities. Mr. Desai is active in numerous professional and civic organizations and has taught architecture at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is serving a second term on the Land Use Commission.

Steven Lee Montgomery, Ph.D., is a biological consultant in private practice, and holds degrees in entomology and biology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Grinnell College. He has extensive experience in the ecosystems of the main Hawaiian islands, as well as the off-shore islands. Dr. Montgomery has written and published extensively, and is a member of several community organizations. He has been honored with the 2000 Coral Reef Award from the Conservation Council of Hawai`i, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Outstanding Citizen Wildlife Contributor in 1998, and as the 1997 Conservationist of the Year.

Randall F. Sakumoto is a partner with McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP, where he practices real estate and business law. He holds a law degree from Hastings School of Law and is a member of the American and Hawaii State Bar Associations. Mr. Sakumoto served as a consultant to the City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting from 1997 to 1999 in rewriting the land use ordinance to streamline the land use permit process and has extensive experience in county and state land use law.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, character, 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.