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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, May 31, 2001

Banker to lead reapportionment board

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

Banker Wayne Minami, a former state attorney general, was unanimously selected yesterday as chairman of the state Reapportionment Commission, giving him the critical tie-breaking vote on the commission that will reshape Hawai'i's state House and Senate districts.

Wayne Minami "is known to be very fair and impartial," said commission member Harold Masumoto.
Commission member Harold Masumoto, a longtime Democrat, said Minami "is known to be very fair and impartial, and he's a lawyer ... he can catch up very fast on the requirements of the law and the Constitution, and I think he'll do a good job. I think he'll have the full confidence of the commission."

Minami, 59, announced last month he will step down today as president and chief executive officer of American Savings Bank. Minami has led the bank since 1987, and under his leadership it grew into a financial service company with 68 branches and $6 billion in assets.

Minami was deeply involved in state government in the 1970s, but Masumoto said he doesn't believe Minami has been politically active recently. Minami was on the Mainland yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

Acting commission Chairman Rick Clifton, a Republican, said he does not know Minami, and does not know whether he considers himself a Republican or a Democrat. However, Minami is "broadly respected in the community," Clifton said Minami's retirement means he will have time to invest in the reapportionment effort.

Minami worked as a staff member in the state House of Representatives in the late 1960s, and went to work as a deputy attorney general during the administration of Gov. John Burns, a Democrat.

When Minami was 32, Gov. George Ariyoshi, a Democrat, appointed him state director of regulatory agencies — the forerunner of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs — which included the responsibility of serving as the state bank examiner.

In 1978, Ariyoshi appointed Minami to the post of state Attorney General, a job he held until 1981.

Picking a chairman for the reapportionment commission is a delicate task because under the state Constitution, four commissioners are appointed by House and Senate Democrats, and four are appointed by House and Senate Republicans.

The eight must then select a ninth member to lead the commission and wield a potentially tie-breaking vote.

Reapportionment commissions are appointed once a decade after the U.S. Census is completed, and are responsible for redrawing boundaries to equalize the populations in the 51 state House districts, 25 state Senate districts and two U.S. Congressional districts.

That job is politically sensitive because the way districts are drawn will influence the outcome of elections. The commission is not supposed to deliberately redraw district lines in ways that favor any particular person or party, but it is possible to group neighborhoods in a manner that benefits one party or another.