Back Room Deal? Democrats, Union Boss Refuse to Identify 3 Nominees for Senate Opening
KHON: The Maui County Democratic Party recommended three candidates to succeed Shan Tsutsui in the Hawaii Senate in a meeting Saturday.
The party chose not to publicly announce the names of the considered applicants. The names were given to Governor Neil Abercrombie, who will make the final choice.
"I feel the process went smoothly and was very transparent." said HSTA operative Justin Hughey, Chair of the Senate District 5 Ad-hoc Nominating Committee.
read … Back room deal
UPDATE Jan 7, 2013: Governor Appoints Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran to State Senate
Cochran: Process should have been open
Maui News: Members of the Senate District 5 Ad-hoc Nominating Committee voted and chose their three highest vote-getters as their recommendations to the governor, but they kept a lid on identifying their nominees to the seat left open by Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui.
Paia Democrat Mary Cochran, an attorney and former member of the state Board of Education, was not part of the panel, but she said she thought the process should have been open, just as it had been with the selection of a successor to the U.S. Senate seat of the late Daniel K. Inouye….
"I guess that's the way they do business," Cochran said Saturday afternoon, although she said she was told by someone who had taken part in the selection process at the ILWU Hall in Wailuku that there was a move to open the meeting to the public.
Troy Hashimoto, corresponding secretary for the Maui Democratic Party, confirmed that the selection panel did consider opening the process, but members ultimately decided to maintain an earlier decision to keep it closed.
"It's not open. It's not democratic," said Cochran, who maintained that selecting Tsutsui's replacement was not only important for 5th Senate District residents in Wailuku, Kahului and Waihee but also for Maui County and the state as a whole.
"It should have been open to everybody," she said.
read … Process
MAUI COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY RECEIVES 7 APPLICATIONS FOR SENATE DISTRICT 5
News Release from Maui Democratic Party January 3, 2012 (UPDATED)
WAILUKU, Hawai‘i – The Maui County Democratic Party has received seven applications from Democrats in good standing who live in Senate District 5, which encompasses Wailuku, Waihee, and Kahului to replace Senator Shan Tsutsui.
Applicants include Nicanor E. Casumpang, Jr., Loretta Giannotti, Robert George Hill III, Natalie A. Kama, Gilbert Samuel Coloma Keith-Agaran, Clifford R. Libed, and Mary D. Wagner.
District and precinct officers within Senate District 5 will comprise the official nominating committee and will meet on Saturday, January 5, 2013. The committee will allow each candidate to speak for up to 10 minutes and committee members will be able to vote for up to three candidates, but not for the same person.
The final three names as identified by the nominating committee will then be transmitted to the Maui County Democratic Party Chair and the Hawaii Democratic Party Chair who will then forward the names to the Governor. The Governor has sixty calendar days following the first day of the vacancy to make an appointment to the Senate seat.
The nominating committee will not release the top three names of the candidates and will defer to the Governor on whether he will release the three names to the public.
For any questions or more information, contact Justin Hughey via e-mail at hughey2000@gmail.com or by phone at (808) 358-5679.
* * * * *
MAUI COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY RECEIVES 6 APPLICATIONS FOR SENATE DISTRICT 5
News Release from Maui County Democratic Party January 3, 2013
WAILUKU, Hawai‘i – The Maui County Democratic Party has received six applications from Democrats in good standing who live in Senate District 5, which encompasses Wailuku, Waihee, and Kahului to replace Senator Shan Tsutsui.
Applicants include Loretta Giannotti, Robert George Hill III, Natalie A. Kama, Gilbert Samuel Coloma Keith-Agaran, Clifford R. Libed, and Mary D. Wagner.
District and precinct officers within Senate District 5 will comprise the official nominating committee and will meet on Saturday, January 5, 2013. The committee will allow each candidate to speak for up to 10 minutes and committee members will be able to vote for up to three candidates, but not for the same person. Only district and precinct officers within Senate District 5 will be allowed to attend the meeting.
The final three names as identified by the nominating committee will then be transmitted to the Maui County Democratic Party Chair and the Hawaii Democratic Party Chair who will then forward the names to the Governor. The Governor has sixty calendar days following the first day of the vacancy to make an appointment to the Senate seat.
The nominating committee will not release the top three candidate names and will defer to the Governor on whether he will release the three names to the public.
For any questions or more information, contact Justin Hughey via e-mail at hughey2000@gmail.com or by phone at (808) 358-5679.