Transcending
partisan boundaries

Partisan wrangling appears to have been set aside in the selection of Wayne Minami, retiring president and chief executive officer of American Savings Bank, as chairman of the state Reapportionment Commission.

Minami is a former Democratic appointee, as attorney general under Gov. George Ariyoshi and as director of regulatory agencies. He also has been involved in civic activities such as Kids Voting Hawaii, Adult Friends of Youth, the Japan-America Society of Hawaii and the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.

The commission's four Democrats on the commission recommended Minami as chairman and their Republican counterparts quickly agreed, along with state GOP Chairwoman Linda Lingle. Republican Rick Clifton, who was named vice chairman, said the consensus was that Minami "is very capable and well-respected and has a reputation in the community that would lead everyone to suspect that he would be fair."

Some observers have expected explosive conflicts over redrawing state Senate and House district lines before the 2002 election. If the spirit of bipartisanship surrounding Minami's appointment is any indication, those fireworks may not occur.

--Lee Catterall

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