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3 named to fill state board vacancies [The Honolulu Star-Advertiser :: ](Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 19--Gov. Neil Abercrombie this week announced the interim appointments of three members to two state boards to fill recent vacancies prompted by a new law requiring public disclosure of financial interests for members of various state boards and commissions. The resignations of as many as 18 volunteer members from various boards and commissions forced the cancellation of at least three meetings last week due to lack of quorum. Interim appointments included Jonathan Scheuer to the Land Use Commission, along with Rona Fukumoto and Edwin Taira to the board of directors of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. The appointments, which took effect Wednesday, allow the members to serve on an interim basis and allow the boards to meet until the new appointees can be approved by the state Senate. The earliest that could occur would be the 2015 legislative session, unless lawmakers are called back into special session. Scheuer, who worked for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs from 2004 to 2010 as a policy analyst and land management director, has been a lecturer at the University of Hawaii, a fellow with the Land Assets Division of Kamehameha Schools, staff lead for the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Natural Area Reserves System Commission, and a legislative aide, the Governor's Office said. He currently serves on the board of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust and with the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter. Appointed to an at-large seat, Scheuer is the first LUC appointee to fill vacancies left by five recent resignations on the nine-member commission, the Governor's Office said. For the Finance and Development Corp., Fukumoto was appointed to the "community advocate for low-income housing affiliated with a private nonprofit" seat, and Taira to the Hawaii County seat. Two vacancies remain on HHFDC, also a nine-member board. Fukumoto is division administrator for Catholic Charities Hawaii's Housing Assistance and Referral Programs and is the nonprofit's former director of intake, information and referral. Taira, of Hilo, has previously served as housing administrator, assistant housing administrator and development division head for Hawaii County's Office of Housing and Community Development. The new law, Senate Bill 2682, took effect July 8, without Abercrombie's signature. It requires members of 15 boards and commissions to make public their annual financial disclosure statements. ___ (c)2014 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |