STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2150

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: GOV. MSG. NO. 667

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 667, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of:

Deputy to the Chairperson of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

G.M. No. 667

WILLIAM J. AILA, for a term to expire at noon on 12-05-2022,

begs leave to report as follows:

Your Committee reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by William Aila for service as the Deputy to the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the reappointment of William Aila from the Office of the Governor; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Accounting and General Services; Department of Public Safety; Department of Human Resources Development; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Department of Agriculture; Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; Department of Transportation; Office of Planning; Office of Enterprise Technology; Aha Moku Advisory Committee; Malama Makua and Women of Wai‘anae; Wai‘anae Valley Homestead Community Association; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Hawaii Operating Engineers Industry Stabilization Fund; Kamalomalo‘o Hawaiian Home Lands Association, Inc.; LiUna! Local 368; Ka ‘Ohana O Kahikinui, Inc.; Waianae Hawaiian Civic Club; Waianae Neighborhood Board #24; Ko‘olau Foundation; DeBartolo Development; Rosehill and Associates; Kelonu Enterprises, LLC; Chun Kerr LLP; Ko‘olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club; Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Inc.; O‘ahu County Democrats Legislative Priorities Committee; and fifty-five individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to the nomination for the reappointment of William Aila from the Pa‘upena Community Development Corporation; Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Home Lands Assembly; Homestead Housing Authority; Keaukaha Community Association; Kalama‘ula Mauka Homestead Association; Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee; Keaukaha Pana‘ewa Farmers Association; Kanehili Community Association District 8 Community Policing Team; Piihonua Hawaiian Homestead Community Association; and twelve individuals. Your Committee received comments on the nomination for the reappointment of William Aila from the Pana‘ewa Hawaiian Home Lands Community Association and Hawaiian Community Assets.

Your Committee finds that Mr. Aila is a graduate of Wai‘anae High School and received a Bachelor of Science degree in General Tropical Agriculture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Mr. Aila resides with his family on a Home Lands residential award and has been a committed community servant for decades, serving on the National Marine Protected Areas Advisory Council, Ka‘ena Point Advisory Group, Advisory Group to the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, U.S. Army Ordnance Reef Advisory Committee, Leeward Community College Wai‘anae Campus - Advisory Board, Hui I Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei, Ka Papa O Kakuhihewa, Hawaii Community Development Authority, and Wai‘anae Weed and Seed Task Force, among others.

Mr. Aila worked as a commercial fisherman for twenty-eight years then for the Department of Land and Natural Resources as a Harbor Agent for the Wai‘anae Boat Harbor for over twenty years. Mr. Aila was then appointed to lead the Department of Land and Natural Resources, as Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, from 2010 through 2014, where his accomplishments included securing the final Board of Land and Natural Resources' approval of the Hā‘ena, Kaua‘i community based subsistence fishing area rules, protecting critical watershed areas, expanding Hawai‘i's Natural Area Reserve System program, and establishing new enforcement mechanisms to protect Hawaii's cultural and natural resources.

In 2014, Mr. Aila was appointed to be the Deputy to the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission where he has continued to work for the betterment of the Hawaiian community and the State. While at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Mr. Aila supported efforts to complete over seven hundred lots, more than half of which have already been awarded on Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. Mr. Aila has also been responsive to beneficiary requests and has worked within the Department to increase the number of vacant lot awards and expand the product type offerings available on Hawaiian home lands. Some of Mr. Aila's other accomplishments at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands include being the lead negotiator for the mediation agreement between public, private, and trust uses for the Waimea Watershed Area and the senior executive working with local Department of Hawaiian Home Lands staff to respond to the 2014 lava flow that threatened to displace Makuu homesteaders.

Your Committee finds that Mr. Aila's personal experience as the spouse of a homesteader provides him with insight into the frustrations of Hawaiian home lands beneficiaries and notes that various testifiers lauded Mr. Aila's willingness to listen and address beneficiaries' communications in a timely manner. Therefore, your Committee recommends that Mr. Aila be reappointed as Deputy to the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission based on his achievements, experience, and commitment to public service.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs 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 Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair