Maui’s Yamamura Among Nominees to State Boards & Commissions

By Wendy Osher

Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed more than 120 individuals to 30 boards and commissions, including several nominees from Maui County.

Ted Yamamura, the executive vice president and senior appraiser for ACM Consultants, Inc., was nominated to serve on the Water Resource Management Commission.

His experience in land issues and land valuation spans 30 years.

Yamamura currently serves a member on the Maui County Board of Water Supply and is a past member of the State of Hawai’i Board of Land and Natural Resources.

His expertise is in real estate valuation and counseling for government entities throughout the state, arbitration procedures, and the valuation of complex and high value residential properties.

A Vietnam War veteran, Yamamura, served in the US Air Force and attended the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

His appointment, along with others is subject to Senate confirmation.

Nominees from Maui County include:

• Russell Johnson, Health Planning Council (Term start 6/13/2011)
• Maureen Naganuma, Health Planning Council, Tri-Isle (Term start 6/30/2011)
• Dr. Wendie Schwab to the Health Authority (Term start 8/22/2011)
• Mary Catiel, Health Planning Council (Term start 5/3/2012)
• Jonathan Starr, Water Resource Management Commission (Term start 7/1/2012)
• JoAnn Ahuna, Health Planning Council, Tri-Isle (Term start 7/1/2012)
• William Thomas, Jr., Health Planning Council, Tri-lsle (Term start 7/1/2012)

Other key appointments across the state include:

• Lorraine Akiba to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).  Akiba will succeed John Cole when his term on the PUC ends on June 30, 2012.  Akiba is an attorney and partner at McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon, LLP, where she heads the firm’s Environmental Practice Group.
• Kim Coco Iwamoto to the Civil Rights Commission.  Iwamoto served on the Board of Education from 2006 to 2010.
• Peter Ho to the Tax Review Commission.  Ho is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Bank of Hawai’i.