Posted at 6:50 p.m., Monday, April 18, 2005
Committee rejects nomination for UH regent
Associated Press
A Senate committee today rejected the gubernatorial nomination of Big Island businessman John K. Kai to the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents.Clayton Hee, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, said he was not satisfied with Kai's ability to express his knowledge of and ideas about university policies.
Kai also contradicted himself when explaining his stance on the administration policy of dubbing UH-Manoa the system's research engine, Hee said.
Kai, who is currently an interim appointee, said the Manoa campus should be the engine but other campuses should also have the chance at developing doctorate programs, including the Hawaiian language program at Hilo.
"Whether I agreed with him or not for me was secondary. What is more important to me was his familiarity of the policies and his defense of what he views as the proper policy," said Hee, D-23rd (Kahuku-Kaneohe).
Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Salt Lake-Foster Village), said he felt Kai's apparent strength in finance was dwarfed by two other nominees: Allan Landon, Bank of Hawaii's chairman and CEO, and Ronald Migita, chairman of the board at Central Pacific Bank.
The lack of confidence in Kai at the committee level — a vote of 3 to 2 — does not bode well for the upcoming vote on his nomination before the full Senate.
After the hearing, Kai said he was disappointed and felt that the questioning was unfair.
"I thought I did my best in there in terms of trying to answer what I perceived to be loaded questions sending me down a path of trying to entrap me on some of those questions," said Kai, president and co-founder of Pinnacle Investment Group.
Hee said he regrets that Kai felt the process was unfair and noted that the nominee was given two chances to present his case, but was held to a higher standard as an interim appointee.
Both Kai and fellow interim appointee Ramon S. de la Pena were given a second hearing after their initial hearings went poorly. The committee today recommended de la Pena for approval.
Hee said de la Pena answered the questions posed by the committee directly and succinctly and was better able to express his viewpoints.
"I had the feeling probably half way through the hearing he was very confident in his ability to execute his duties as regent," Hee said.
De la Pena is an emeritus researcher of natural resources and environmental management at the University of Hawai'i. De la Pena received his bachelor's degree from the University of the Philippines and both his master's and doctorate from University of Hawai'i.
