Flags Lowered to Honor of Former Hawai’i Mayor Yamashiro

By Wendy Osher

Flags will fly at half-staff on Saturday, June 18, 2011 to honor the memory of former Hawai’i County Mayor Stephen K. Yamashiro.

Yamashiro served as mayor of Hawai’i County from 1992 to 2000.  Prior to that, he served on the Hawai’i County Council from 1976 to 1990, serving 11 of those years as council chairman.

Governor Neil Abercrombie, who issued the proclamation for the lowering of national and state flags at government buildings, described Yamashiro as, “one of the most influential political leaders and elected officials on the Big Island who played an essential role in transforming the Hawai’i County economy from its sole dependency on the sugar industry to other diversified industries such as agriculture, astronomy, and tourism.”

Yamashiro died on May 24, 2011.  He was 69.