Will Cayetano keep
Mike Wilson as land
board chairman?

Wilson has detractors among boaters,
adherents among environmentalists

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

When Gov. Ben Cayetano announced his Cabinet choices for his second term, environmentalists took notice of who was not on his list.

So far, the governor has not said whether he will keep Mike Wilson, chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

"There are those who predicted that if the governor got re-elected, he would waste no time in getting rid of all the advocates for the public interest in his Cabinet," said Paul Achitoff of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. "It would appear those people were right."

But Bill Mossman, a member of a group that clashed with Wilson over the privatization of small boat harbors, believes Wilson should go.

"The reason I and many of the people I have contact with would be of that opinion is that there is a dangerously high swinging of the pendulum of environmental control of all government activities dealing with resources," he said.

Mossman said he and other boat owners are not happy with the pace of improvements to Hawaii's small boat harbors.

Sen. Andy Levin (D, Kau), former chairman of the Senate's Health and Environment Committee, said it would be a shame to see Wilson leave. "If he's doing a good job, he's going to be controversial," Levin said.

Donna Wong, executive director of Hawaii's Thousand Friends, said: "We haven't always agreed with him, but we feel that he's been fair to all sides. He understands the issues, and it's time to do what's best for the environment."

The governor kept most of his Cabinet intact. However, Kali Watson, chairman of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, will be replaced by Raynard Soon, administrator of the department's accelerated homestead program.

"I'm just glad I had the opportunity and privilege to head up this homesteading program," Watson said. "We've done a lot in the last four years that has now positioned us so we can move into the next millennium."

Watson had wanted to stay in his job, but the governor said he disagreed with Watson on several issues.

Besides Soon, there will likely be at least three other new faces in the next Cayetano administration.

Ted Sakai, the acting deputy director of the Department of Public Safety, will become the new director. Cayetano also previously announced that Bruce Anderson, deputy director for environmental health, would be the new health director. And the governor has yet to make an appointment to head the Department of Human Resources Development.

All of the appointees must still be confirmed by the Senate.

Senate Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Avery Chumbley (D, Kihei) said it is rare for the Senate to reject a gubernatorial appointment.

He said, however, the Judiciary Committee will be asking tough questions of Sakai.

The committee is planning to hold an investigative hearing into alleged abuses by prison guards, and Chumbley wants to know what Sakai will do about the alleged beatings and mistreatment of prisoners.

Many keeping their
state Cabinet posts

Here's the Cabinet lineup and some deputies:

Ray Sato, comptroller, Department of Accounting & General Services. Deputy: Mary Pat Waterhouse.
James Nakatani, chairman, Board of Agriculture. Deputy: Leticia Uyehara.
Margery Bronster, attorney general. First deputy: Thomas R. Keller.
Earl Anzai, director,
Department of Budget and Finance.
Seiji Naya, director,
Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
Kathryn Matayoshi, director, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Deputy: Gilbert S. Coloma-Agaran, transferring from another agency.
Adjutant General Edward Richardson, Department of Defense.
Bruce Anderson, director, Department of Health. Deputy: Paula Yoshioka. Deputy director for environmental health: Gary Gill.
Susan Chandler, director, Department of Human Services. Deputy: Kate Stanley.
Lorraine Akiba, director, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Deputy: Leonard Agor.
Ted Sakai, director,
Department of Public Safety.
Ray Kamikawa, director, Deparment of Taxation. Deputy: Neal Miyahira, transferring from another department.
Kazu Hayashida, director, Department of Transportation. Deputies: Glenn Okimoto and Brian Minaai.