From Honolulu Republican Party

Aloha Oahu Republicans,  April 17, 2021

On April 13, 2021 the appointed members of the 2021 Reapportionment Committee met via video conference. Here is a link to the meeting agenda and link to the meeting video.   

Appointees  Names  Appointing Authority

• Charlotte Nekota  President of the Senate
• Randall Nishimura  President of the Senate
• Grant Y. M. Chun  Speaker of the House
• Diane T. Ono  Speaker of the House
• Robin Kennedy  Senate Minority Leader
• Kevin Rathbun  Senate Minority Leader
• Cal Chipchase  House Minority Leader
• Dylan Nonaka  House Minority Leader

Summary

Well looks like the fix is in and it's quite obvious when you have commissioners seconding comments as if they were motions, then another immediately calling for the question!

Throwing out parliamentary procedures regarding election of officers, longtime Republican, former HRP Executive Director, and 2010 Reapportionment Commissioner, Commissioner Dylan Nonaka moved to elect Dr. Mark M. Mugiishi, M.D. President and CEO, HMSA Honolulu, O‘AHU and long time Democrat contributor as the Commission Chairman. A motion to amend Dylan's motion - to allow more candidates to be considered was voted down 5-3. Additionally, it was incorrectly stated that Judge Kubo was not the supporter who garnered funding for the Weed and Seed Program, but it was sustained by Steve Alm.

Why would a long time Republican nominate a long time Democrat to chair such an important Commission without even fighting for a Republican nominee first?

Proper parliamentary procedure, which all State Boards and Commissions follow, should have open the floor to nominations for Chairman, allow other Commissioners to nominate a candidate if desired, then close nominations and do an election. By making a motion to accept Dr. Mugiishi, then add his personal comment that if the motion fails they can move to the next nominee, Dylan Nonaka essentially blocked any other nominations for the position.

It was also obvious that several of the commissioners were ill informed of what was to take place at this meeting!

Why does this matter, because this is our one opportunity, every ten years, to wrestle political power from the Democrats by ensuring each political district has been created fairly, using census data, to not favor one party or another as has happened in the past.

Since the effects of drawing political boundaries will affect the next five elections over the next ten years, we need to be ready to make our voices heard on this commission to ensure that lines are drawn fairly and stop any and all attempts to implement more Democrat-safe seats which no Republican could ever win. Our strategy to deal with reapportionment must involve intense collaboration between our party's leadership and the four Republican representatives chosen by Senator Kurt Fevella and Representative Val Okimoto.

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HMSA’s Mark Mugiishi To Chair State Redistricting Panel

CB April 14, 2021: … Dr. Mark Mugiishi, president and CEO of the Hawaii Medical Services Association, was elected Tuesday to lead a state panel charged with redrawing Hawaii’s political boundaries once every decade.

It was the first order of business for the Reapportionment Commission, a panel tasked with drawing district boundaries for state representatives and senators. Six members of the eight-member commission voted in favor of Mugiishi’s nomination.

“He’s a proven entity that knows how to run a big organization and navigate difficult situations,” said Dylan Nonaka, a commission member and realtor who nominated Mugiishi….

read … HMSA’s Mark Mugiishi To Chair State Redistricting Panel