Shimabukuro and Solomon appointed to State Senate

Governor Neil Abercrombie announced the appointments of Rep. Maile Shimabukuro and Malama Solomon, Ph.D. to the state Senate.

Maile Shimabukuro. MauiNOW.com file photo.

Shimabukuro, who represented the Waianae Coast district in the State House since 2003, shifts chambers, by filling the District 21 vacancy in the State Senate which also encompasses the Waianae district.  The vacancy was created by the departure of Colleen Hanabusa who won election to Congress in November.  Both are members of the Democratic Party.

Rep. Shimabukuro is an attorney with Legal Services Organization, specializing in family, housing, public benefits and consumer court and administrative proceedings.  She previously served as a law clerk at the State of Hawaii, District Court.  Shimabukuro earned her law degree from the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law, and a BA in English from Colorado College.

Dr. Malama Solomon, meantime, replaces Dwight Takamine in the Senate District 1, representing Hilo, Hamakua and Waimea.  The vacancy was created with the departure of Takamine who leaves the post to fulfill his new appointment as Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Dr. Solomon comes to the post with 16 years of experience in the state Senate and 18 years as a Trustee with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  She owns a 1,600-acre ranch in Waimea, North Kohala and Hamakua.  Dr. Solomon earned her Ph.D. in Education from Oregon State University, and her MA in Education and BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The new terms for both Shimabukuro and Solomon are good until the 2012 general election.

The governor is also tasked with selecting a Senate appointment for the Hilo Distrct.  Sen. Russell Kokubun plans to resign at the end of the year to take on an Interim Director post with the Department of Agriculture.  Gov. Abercrombie must select a replacement within 60 days of the vacancy.

(Posted by Wendy Osher; information courtesy Office of the Governor, State of Hawaii)