By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Attorney General Margery Bronster is greeted
by supporters after the vote.
Bronster unknown
in 1994Cayetano says it will be
difficult to replace his
choice attorney generalCayetano: 'A deal was cut'
By Pat Omandam Trustees deny ouster role
Star-BulletinWhen Gov. Ben Cayetano chose Margery Bronster as state attorney general in 1994, many people didn't know who she was other than an experienced litigator at one of Hawaii's largest law firms.
Today, she's a household name some praise as smart, tenacious and independent.
"I'm going to have a tough time finding an attorney general as good as Margery Bronster," Cayetano said. "She will have had an impact on this state as no other attorney general has had. That will be her legacy."
Bronster, 41, represented the state's interest in myriad controversial legal issues during her tenure.
They include the Waiahole Ditch contested case hearing, the legality of a no vote for a constitutional convention, the same-sex marriage debate at the Legislature, auto-insurance reform and ceded land issues.
She will be remembered, however, for launching the state's investigation into allegations of mismanagement at Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, where her litigation experience was put to the test.
A China scholar, Bronster graduated with honors from Columbia University law school in 1982 and joined Shearman & Sterling, one of New York City's largest law firms where she gained experience as a commercial litigator between 1982-1987.
In 1987, Bronster married Mark Fukunaga, chairman and chief executive officer of Servco Pacific Inc. She moved to Hawaii and a year later joined the Hawaii firm of Carlsmith Ball Wichman Murray Case & Ichiki.
She remained as a partner at the firm until 1994, when Cayetano asked her to join his administration. At the time, Bronster said one of her primary goals was to restore faith in government, and make it more open and accessible.
The Bronster file
Born: Dec. 12, 1957, New York.
Work Experience:
Anzai, governor
By Pat Omandam
go way back
Star-BulletinAs an analyst at the office of the legislative auditor in 1975, it was Earl Anzai's job to present seminars on taxation and transportation to freshman lawmakers, including newly elected House Transportation Chairman Ben Cayetano.
As the story goes, Cayetano asked Anzai to talk with him about transportation issues, and the two like-minded people soon forged a close friendship that has lasted nearly 25 years.
"He's been an outstanding budget director," Cayetano said. "Perhaps Earl's fault, if he has faults and he has a few, is that he's very candid and he'll tell people what the facts are rather than what they want to hear."
Anzai, 57, grew up in Kaaawa, where his mother helped in the Anzai family's Kaaawa store while his father was a federal civilian employee. He attended University High School in Manoa but graduated from Kahuku High after a disagreement with University High's principal.
He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics at the University of Hawaii in 1966, shortly thereafter married the former Lyn Flanigan, and was hired by the U.S. General Accounting Office to audit government agencies in Asia between 1968 and 1970.
Anzai also worked in state government as chief clerk of the Senate Ways and Means Committee in 1981, the same year he earned a UH law degree. In 1982, Anzai served as Cayetano's chief investigator for the special Senate committee that investigated heptachlor contamination of island milk.
While in private practice as an attorney, Anzai unsuccessfully ran for the Board of Education in 1984. He re-emerged in government in 1990 as a special counsel to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Cayetano: 'A deal was cut'
Trustees deny ouster role
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