STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1277

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NO. 549

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Energy and Environment, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 549, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of: 

 

Environmental Council

 

G.M. No. 549

CHARLES A. PRENTISS,

for a term to expire 6-30-2015,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by the nominee and finds Charles A. Prentiss to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Environmental Council.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Charles A. Prentiss from Gary Hooser, Office of Environmental Quality Control; Donna Wong, Hawaii's Thousand Friends; Robert Harris, Sierra Club, Hawai‘i Chapter; Tom Coffman; Steve Holmes; Bixby K.G. Ho; Neil Frazer; Kathleen Kim; Claudine Tomasa; Mary Alice Evans; Lynne Matusow; Pauline Mac Neil; Marion Poirier; Louis Erteschik; Muriel Seto; Charles Torigoe; Richard Poirier; Glenn Ida; Charles Ice; and Dante Carpenter.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to the nomination of Charles A. Prentiss from Shannon Wood.

 

     Dr. Prentiss received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and City Planning from Rutgers University.  He earned a Master of Government Administration degree from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business Management from the American International University.  Dr. Prentiss is a Vietnam veteran who has served as a pilot in the United States Air Force, the Hawaii Air National Guard, and the Hawaii Army National Guard.  His past employment includes being an Adjunct Lecturer at Chaminade University, a Regional Planner for the Department of Community Services of the State of New Jersey, the City Manager for Pemberton Township, New Jersey, the Executive Secretary of the Planning Commission for the City and County of Honolulu, and twenty years as an Urban Planner for the City and County of Honolulu.  He also formerly served on the Environmental Council.

 

     Although Dr. Prentiss describes his current employment status as "retired", he continues to volunteer as an Oahu at-large member of the State Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and as the Chair of the Rules Committee and Treasurer of Region 9 of the Oahu County Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.  He is also the President of Hawaii's Thousand Friends and Chair of the Kailua Neighborhood Board.

 

     Dr. Prentiss has expressed that his main interests are in planning, environmental protection, and alternative energy.  In response to your Committee's question regarding his position on development, Dr. Prentiss responded that he is not against development and that there is enough land to accommodate the projected population.  Dr. Prentiss states that he strongly supports the environmental review process and would like to help assure that it is implemented fairly, effectively, and efficiently.  He also pointed out that Hawaii's environment is its economy. 

 

     Dr. Prentiss' possesses advanced degrees and extensive experience in government and city planning, institutional knowledge and experience in Hawaii government regulations, and a variety of experience in community volunteer work with neighborhood boards and environmental groups.  This experience combined with his former membership in the Council gives him a background and knowledge base that will be invaluable in assisting the Council as it fulfills its duties to the people of Hawaii.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominee, has found the nominee to be qualified for the position to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nomination.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environment,

 

 

 

____________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair