STAND. COM. REP. NO. 464

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 386, 387

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 386 and 387, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

Island Burial Council, Island of Oahu

G.M. No. 386	AARON D. MAHI, for a term to expire 6-30-2013; and
G.M. No. 387	MARK KAWIKA MCKEAGUE, for a term to expire 6-30-2013,

begs leave to report as follows:

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds Aaron D. Mahi and Mark Kawika McKeague to have the necessary qualifications to be nominated to the Island Burial Council, Island of Oahu. 

     Testimony in support of the nomination of Mr. Mahi was submitted by one state agency, one organization, and two public citizens.

     Mr. Mahi received his Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Hartford, and has served as Bandmaster for the Royal Hawaiian Band and Associate Conductor with the Honolulu Symphony.  Mr. Mahi is presently employed as the Executive Director of the Waihona Mele No‘eau of the Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa Foundation.

     Currently serving a term on the Island Burial Council for the island of Oahu, Mr. Mahi has gained an understanding of ancient Hawaiian burial practices through mentorship received from kupuna resources and his own study and research.  Mr. Mahi states that as a Hawaiian, it is his duty to repatriate Hawaiian people to their resting places to ensure that the source of their spirits resident in their Iwi will always be intact and safe, thus ensuring the life and breath of the kanaka spiritual realm.

     Testimony in support of the nomination of Mr. McKeague was submitted by one state agency, two organizations, and five public citizens. 

     Mr. McKeague received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and his Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.  He also has a graduate certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.  Mr. McKeague is the Board President of the PAI Foundation, and is presently employed as a Senior Environmental Planner at Group 70 International, Inc. 

     As a current member of the Island Burial Council for the island of Oahu, and as a cultural resource planner and practitioner with the legal processes of federal and state historic preservation and burial law over several years, Mr. McKeague has a foundation of relevant experience upon which he hopes to build.  Furthermore, he understands that the kupuna who have passed on before us are sources of knowledge, strength, inspiration, wisdom, and spiritual power, and their legacy must be sustained in perpetuity.  He believes that positive and effective outcomes can be achieved if a purposeful consideration and respect of the legacy of Hawaii's lands is integrated early into the planning entitlement, conceptual land use design, and site planning processes.

     Written testimony presented to your Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and 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 Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair