STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3500

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    GOV. MSG. NO. 705

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 705, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of: 

Board of Land and Natural Resources

G.M. No. 705

THOMAS OI, for a term to expire 6-30-2016,

begs leave to report as follows:

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by the nominee and finds Thomas Oi to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nominee from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, East Kauai Soil and Water Conservation District, Hawaii Government Employees Association, and fourteen individuals.

     Thomas Oi has held a State of Hawaii Professional Land Surveyor's Certificate since 1996 as well as a State Land Court License Certificate since 1997.  Mr. Oi is the owner of Tommy Oi Land Surveyor LLC, in Lihue, Kauai.  He also worked as a surveyor with the firm of Kutake, Portugal & Ibara, Inc., on the island of Kauai.  His duties there included topography, boundary, and construction surveying.  Mr. Oi served as the Kauai District Land Agent for the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Land Division for over eight years, and he worked previously as a Land Boundary Surveyor for the Department of Accounting and General Services and as a licensed Land Surveyor in the Highways Design Cadastral Engineering Section of the Department of Transportation.  He is familiar with rules, regulations, and statutes concerning Land Court System surveys.

     Thomas Oi possesses a wealth of knowledge about the land and natural resources on Kauai, having worked in land surveying on Kauai for many years.  Your Committee finds that he will be a tremendous asset to the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land 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 Water and Land,

____________________________

MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair