Governor Appoints Gilbert Keith-Agaran to Maui Senate Seat

Rep. Gil Keith Agaran. Photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Gov. Neil Abercrombie today announced the appointment of Gilbert Keith-Agaran to the state Senate to represent Hawaii’s 5th senatorial district, a seat recently left vacant by Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui.

“Gil brings a wealth of experience from the practice of law and work in county and state government. His passion for the people of the Valley Isle is evident and I am confident he will continue to serve them well,” said Gov. Abercrombie in a statement this afternoon.

Keith-Agaran was among a list of seven people that had applied for the vacancy, and among three finalists forwarded to the governor for consideration.

He was appointed to the House in January 2009 to complete the unexpired term of the late Bob Nakasone.  He served as chair and deputy director of the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, director of Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and deputy director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as well as County of Maui Public Works Director.

He presently serves on the boards of the Maui Food Bank and the Tri-Isle Resource Conservation and Development Council. He was previously was a member of the boards of the Maui Coastal Land Trust, the Maui High School Community Council, the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation, and other non-profit organizations on Maui and Oahu, and the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Advisory Committee.

Keith-Agaran graduated from Maui High School; earned a BA in history from Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut; and is a graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley.

Keith-Agaran continues to practice law in Wailuku as a partner in the Maui law firm of Takitani Agaran and Jorgensen LLLP.

He is married to Kallie Keith-Agaran.

The appointment is effective immediately.