Senate rejects 2 Lingle nominees to UH regents
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
The state Senate last night handed Gov. Linda Lingle a repudiation of two of her nominees for the 12-member University of Hawai'i Board of Regents, objecting to their close political ties to her.
At the same time senators approved four other regent nominees, two of whom are also close to Lingle politically and were important to her gubernatorial campaign.
Senators voted 14-11 against confirming her campaign attorney, Shelton G.W. Jim On, and 14-11 against businessman Edward D. Sultan, her campaign finance director's husband.
The four approved were businesswoman Catherine "Kitty" Lagareta and Alvin Takata, both close to Lingle politically; UH law student Trent Kakuda; and professor emeritus Byron W. Bender.
Objections to Jim On and Sultan first arose in the Senate Education Committee, which voted 4-3 Thursday to not recommend nomination. Senators objected to the "partisanship" of both, especially Jim On, and to Sultan's unfamiliarity with some UH matters, especially a recent audit. They asked whether either were the best choices to help guide the university at this important juncture when the state is looking to the university and the federal contracts it attracts to help reignite the economy.
Supporters of the two were equally adamant that both were right for the job. Supporters cited the nominees' business and fiscal experience, which they said were important to consider given the $700 million 10-campus operation, one of the state's biggest operations.
Jim On, an attorney who passed the Certified Public Accountants exam but is not a licensed CPA, has doubled the size of the family retail jewelry business in the past decade by expanding to the Mainland.
Before the vote, Lingle maintained a sense of cautious optimism.
"There was a point in the day (Thursday) where they (senators) sent up an offer that if I would withdraw the names, I could then appoint them as interim on the board and then they would take it up again next year if I decided to resubmit them," she said.
"While we were contemplating that, they came back up and said, we want to withdraw that offer, so I told them at that point I would not withdraw the names."
She indicated that the whole process had "sort of galvanized a lot of people who really hadn't been focused on politics very much but they were a part of wanting to see some positive change in the state and they happened to know these two individuals. So it's been really good in that sense."
Also yesterday, the Senate unanimously confirmed Lingle's nomination of James E. Duffy Jr. to a 10-year term on the Hawai'i Supreme Court. Duffy, 60, will fill the vacancy on the high court created by the December retirement of Mario Ramil.
The Senate also unanimously confirmed District Court Judge Rhonda Nishimura to the Honolulu Circuit Court.
Correction: Shelton G.W. Jim On passed the Certified Public Accountants exam but is not a licensed CPA. Information in a previous version of this story was incorrect.
