Senate Standing Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs. It's 3:00 PM. Today is February 19th, 2025, and we are in Conference Room 225. This hearing is also being streamed on the Hawaii State Senate's YouTube channel. Just a few housekeeping announcements.

In the unlikely case of technical failures, this meeting will reconvene here in Conference Room 225 on February 21st, 2025, at 3:00 PM. For all testifiers, including those on Zoom, we ask that you stand on your written testimony. If your oral testimony is different from your written testimony, the time limit for each testifier will be one minute.

Members, I'll allow the nominees to go a little further than one minute, if that's okay with you, to express, you know, why they want to be confirmed. And the content including the hearing notice, copies of the bills and testimony can be found on the legislator's website—on the Legislature's website.

If time permits, decision making will occur after we hear from those offering testimony. Members, today is advising consent calendar. First up, we have is GM 645. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Department of Law Enforcement Gubernatorial nominee, Mike Lambert, for a term to expire on December 7th, 2026. The position was corrected by GM 650.

First on our list is Wendy Gady, Director for Agribusiness Development Corporation, in support. Jade Butay, Director of DLIR, in support. Director Sniffen from HDOT, in support on Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, Chair.

Okay. Governor Green in support. Brenna Hashimoto, Director of DHRD, in support. Director and Chairperson of Department of Ag, Sharon Hurd, in support.

Dr. Kenny Fink, Director Fink, Department of Health, in support. We have Comptroller Keith Regan, from DAGS, in support. Rodney Maile, the Administrative Director for the Judiciary, in support. Marian Tsuji, from the Department of Health, in support. Tina Yamaki, from Retail Merchants of Hawaii, on Zoom.

Not present.

Live and in person.

Live in person. Yes. Must be important.

It is.

Aloha and good afternoon. I'm Tina Yamaki with the Retail Merchants of Hawaii and we are in strong support of Mike Lambert for this position.

I've actually known him since he was a recruit in Waikiki and what I found from the time he was a recruit to the time we worked from him when he was in the vice squad with game rooms is he's always looking to improve things and looking for new ways to do things.

And I think that's something that this person really needs. They got to think outside the box and it's not about him, he's always been for what's best for the community. I'll be around for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Brian Miyamoto, Farm Bureau.

Thank you, Chair. The Hawaii Farm Bureau stands on its written testimony in strong support.

Okay. Farm Bureau in support. Thank you. Heather Lusk, Executive Director for Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Center. Aloha.

Aloha. Thank you, Chair Elefante, Vice Chair Wakai, and Members of the Committee, Heather Lusk with Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Center. It's not often that a harm reductionist stands aligned with a nominee for the Department of Law Enforcement, and we strongly support Mike Lambert to be that person. He has over the past 10 years, collaborated with community.

He really gets—at the heart, he's a law enforcement officer and knows that public health, public safety, is important, but he also knows that public health is part of the issue as well, especially when it comes to homelessness and other community concerns. He is willing to collaborate, to listen, even when we don't agree.

And I cannot say stronger how much the community supports this nominee. Thank you.

Thank you. Kumi McDonald testifying for National Alliance on Mental Health. Alliance on Mental Illness Hawaii, NAMI, in support. Alan Johnson, Hina Maka, in support. Kimo Carvalho in support for Homemade. Director Tommy Johnson.

We stand on our written testimony in support.

Okay. DCR in support. Thank you. Alison Ueoka in support. Oh.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Alison Ueoka. Today I'm testifying in my personal capacity. In 2022, I was chosen to be one of six assessors from the community to assess second round of candidates for Police Chief and Mike Lambert was one of those. And I remember him from that time.

We spent like four days together. Four days, 10 hours every day, in written and verbal communication, and I found him to be extremely articulate and creative in his solutions, and I support him fully for this position. Thank you.

Thank you. Linda Rosehill. Okay, in support. Nikos Leverenz in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Nikos Leverenz in strong support of this nomination. Representative—Mr. Lambert has so many qualities that that really recommend him for this position. But one of the chief attributes that he's displayed over the time that I've known him is his ability to communicate effectively, succinctly, and with integrity.

So, given the experience that he's had over the decades in law enforcement and his ability to interface with members of the community, with policymakers, and the media, this is really a very sage choice by Governor Green. Mahalo for the opportunity to provide testimony.

Thank you. We also have James Kunane Tokioka, Director of DBEDT. Luis Salaveria for BNF. All in support. Sabrina Nasir, Deputy Director for BNF, in support. Cheuk Fu Lui in support. Stephen Logan, the Adjutant General for DOD, in support. Gary Suganuma, Department of Taxation, in support. And we have 24 more individuals in support for GM 645.

Is there anyone else in the audience that wishes to testify on GM 645? Oh, yes, AG. hello.

Good afternoon. Hello, Chair and Members of the Committee. I thought I had submitted my written testimony, but perhaps not. I have not worked for many years with Mike, but I have worked with him intermittently over the last few and I think he's just a perfect choice for this Department.

I think a clean view of things, somebody coming from outside of the state, is a good thing. I mean, outside of state government. I have found him in our interactions to be really a great collaborator and communicator.

And what I have appreciated most and what I think is crucial for DLE is his interest and his passion for community policing. I think this is absolutely critical, certainly for the island of Oahu, and I think he'll be able to lead well, and I think help transform DLE into a 21st century policing organization.

Thank you. Is there anyone else on GM 645? Okay. If not, Members, any questions, so far? If not, we'll call on the nominee. If you can identify yourself.

Mike Lambert. Nominee for Director of Law Enforcement.

If you want to just share why you want to serve.

First off, I'd just like to thank everyone in the room. Heartfelt welcome. Thank you. I'm honored by everyone to take their time for me today. As you guys know, I hate asking for help, so I really appreciate those that went out of their way for me. I have 22 years of law enforcement experience.

At the lower ranks, it was in Patrol, which allowed me to understand what officers go through on the front line, as well as what the community experiences when they're in situations of fear or duress and how important it is for a law enforcement official to come along and not necessarily to save the day, but to calm the day and to make people feel safe.

In my upper ranks, I was a Commander in the Community Outreach Unit, which was very instrumental in ensuring that people that were experiencing homelessness during the COVID Pandemic had somewhere to go. And it's actually one of those projects that I didn't realize that I was going to fall in love with.

I just saw it as a project to take on to help those that are in crisis. And over time, again, that actually is probably my true passion and probably when I get through my law enforcement career, I'll probably be doing some non-profit work, so you guys can keep that in mind.

But—and as I progress through my career, I had the honor of being the training commander for the Honolulu Police Department from 2020 to 2022.

And why that's significant for this position is that as we grow the Department of Law Enforcement, it's very critical that our training standards are on par with major cities and that will hopefully provide the confidence for parity and pay for my new team.

Moving on from that, I was able to move to the Narcotics Vice Division which had an instrumental role in reducing game rooms on Honolulu by 50% in a 12-month span.

We tackled internet crimes against children which to me are probably one of the most heinous offenses someone can do against another human being—is to take advantage of the youth. I also was able to work with my federal partners to tackle issues like fentanyl. And my latest passion is tackling issues related to firearms, particularly ghost guns.

With that, I am honored, and I hope that the Committee can see my value coming over to the state. Thank you.

And congratulations on your nomination from the Governor. With that, Members, questions for the nominee?

But I do have a comment.

Yeah, go ahead.

Thank you so much for being here and it's obvious by the amount of testimonies in support that you are backed by very credible agencies and people that are all a part of this industry.

I will say though, speaking on behalf of my community, which is the Waianae Coast, Mike Lambert has been very instrumental in helping to crack down on the game rooms. He's come to our community, he's ground level in our community, and if anybody knows anything about 96792, we're very skeptical.

Especially when people, in any form of government or authority, comes in and says hey, we're going to help. We hold them to that. And he had made the commitment to crack down. There was a few dozen game rooms that were active on the Waianae Coast and he was able to bring that down to single digits.

So, he has—and that was less than a year. He said I'll do it within a year, and he did it sooner than that.

So, I can honestly say just from watching his boots on the ground efforts, he's not going to come in and tell us what we want to hear just for the sake of, you know, settling the room.

But he really is in my, what I've been able to visibly see in my community, that he really will follow through with the results. If he can't do it, he can't do it.

We've had many conversations where he can help, and some that he hasn't been able to, but he's been upfront and honest, and I think that that's what we need in a Department that's very new.

Department of Law Enforcement could use the fresh ideas, new ideas, but then ideas that are actually realistic and practical, because we know that we're kind of up against, you know, a mountain here. So, if you can keep the expectations practical, realistic, but challenge those areas where it's said that it can't be done.

But I'm confident that with you in this position, you'll be able to do it. You'll be able to break the barriers. I can commit that, as far as myself and my community in my office, we're behind you 100%, and we're ready to go boots on the ground with you for whatever it is that you folks need.

But I am just probably the most excited about this nominee, Chair, and I'm just honored to be able to sit on this Committee to be able to support your nomination. So, that's all I have. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator.

Thank you. Members? Senator Fukunaga. Yes?

I think after the last 10 years in which both Senator Elefante and I worked with you on many, many homeless issues, it's very refreshing, you know, to have someone with extensive HPD experience and background kind of entering this new arena.

So, my question is, really, how do you see your previous law enforcement experience enabling you to tackle perhaps one of our most difficult issues, which is fireworks? Illegal activities in and around our communities, which I think for most of us, we are now seeing in just an incredible scale that has never been seen before.

I think that my experience is that I always work with the community first. To tackle fireworks, you have to create trust within the community. They know that if they give you their tip, that they can keep their identity safe. And it's, again, speaking to the Waianae Coast, it took me about a year almost to build trust where people would give me tips.

And same thing with the fireworks community. There's always going to be that belief—or the general community as it relates to fireworks is going to be that belief that the police are dirty.

And it's very important for me to run a clean house at the DLE, to ensure that they know that we are not a part of the problem. And that is the first element that needs to be tackled, is community trust. Secondly is my ability to deliver complex—on complex issues.

Things like game rooms, internet crimes against children. They're very niche and they have a lot of technical aspects to it. So, what I'm gonna have to do the fireworks is to, again, we're supporting legislation to untie the definitions and once that gets through, hopefully this session we can go ahead and focus on actual practical enforcement.

We're gonna have issues in regards to storage and disposal, which I've shared with many of you, but that's something that we can tackle once we start to actually make a dent.

In this problem, I have a lot of great federal partners, you know, be it Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, ATF, and IRS, that are willing to stand by and support me, should I be, should I—if I am able to build these investigations.

So, I think, just like any other problem, you have to assess it, you have to plan, you have to engage the community so that they know that you're with good intent.

And then, it's working with the laws, lawmakers, to make sure the laws are effective and ensuring that all the way through Judiciary that their concerns are, I guess, addressed so that we can actually get people charged for these crimes.

Thank you. I think that having seen all of the work that you've done in and around our communities, particularly with homeless encampments for a very extended period of time, it was so refreshing to have the Honu and the post opportunities to engage in new ways and really find different kinds of solutions that we haven't seen in the past.

So, thank you.

Thank you. Senator. Thank you.

Members, any other questions for the nominee? Yeah, Vice Chair Wakai.

You know, I don't have the long-standing relationship that Senator Elefante and Fukunaga have with you, but in my recent discussions with you, I've been very impressed with your, your openness.

And I look around this room and usually when we do these confirmations, it's a usual suspects, right? Government people, law enforcement people. But we have like different faces in here, from retail, to insurance, to the nonprofit world.

And I think that is, is what is so impressive is your—the scope of support that you have from various corners of the community is something we don't always see with a Gubernatorial nominee. And in our discussions last week, we had a really good talk about fireworks.

Your plans there, plans for expansion at the old Enterprise Rent a Car facility by the airport, game rooms, casinos perhaps one day in Hawaii. And, and, you know, I was here when your predecessor was up for confirmation and I kind of jokingly called him the George Washington of DLE.

And now I see you're going to be the John Adams of DLE, and I just think that the organization is in really good hands. It was a good handoff from your predecessor to where you are today.

And as you put—take on—more and more challenges, I mean the big topic this year is the fact that you have to go and be the face of the fight against fireworks. I mean, that is an issue that we've been struggling with for decades in the state.

And one of the things that you're going to be challenged with is how are you going to find all the recruits or the personnel to go and fight fireworks amongst all the other things that you have to do. So, how are you going to get more people interested in helping DLE complete its mission?

So, for those that have worked with me, I don't ever like to ask for money if I'm not going to deliver. So, one of the things that I'm going to be working on this first year is training and discipline for the Department of Law enforcement.

As we increase our ability to be effective on state-related issues, I will be asking for parity. Once my team earns it and deserves it, I'm going to be very, I guess up front and strong about requesting that they are able—I'm able to compensate them in comparable amounts to the county.

And I think once I can get that ability, whether it be through increased training or creating a new state police class altogether, then it'll come down to all, you know, me as a Director of Law Enforcement and the County Chiefs on who can create an environment where people want to work.

Because if I can get the pay the same, if I can get the retirement the same, it comes down to who do they want to be led by. And I feel that because I've always created a family environment for the people I work and I've always shown interest in what's important to them, I do feel that if all things considered the same, that I will attract those that are interested in law enforcement.

Members, any other questions? If not, the Chair has a few questions for you. Thank you to my colleagues for, you know, asking questions on enforcement on fireworks. I think that's a critical issue with the extension of the Illegal Fireworks Task Force and Enforcement Division. You talked about collaborating with federal agencies.

I know sometimes there's key gaps, whether it's at our ports or other areas. How do you see that not just only, you know, illegal type of explosives or fireworks coming in, but how do you see that collaboration continuing in this new role for you?

Well, I think a lot of it is having to understand, first and foremost, what will be new to me is how the shipping works. Typically, at the county level, it's not a priority—it's not a priority or responsibility for us to understand flow at the ports or the airport. So, this is going to be new to me.

And once I figure out what those processes are, then I'll begin to make assessments on how we can do better screening, where our canines need to be, whether it be for explosive or drugs—explosives or drugs.

And I think that in time, probably within the next eight months or so, I would probably be able to have a much better idea on how we would strategically work the docks and our airports.

Because when it comes to drugs, you know, because fentanyl is so concentrated and small, you can have a packet on a plane, and it can create thousands of lethal doses in our community. So, it's just a matter of looking at each issue independently and seeing where there's overlap.

And I think it's pretty obvious that the ports are going to be of great concern if we're ever going to tackle all the issues of fireworks and drugs.

And I know in our conversation that we had, you're looking at possibly expanding sort of that enforcement division. Do you see it expanding to kind of be being like a local state, ATF type of division, that the Feds have?

In regards to the fireworks division within the DLE, I would like to extend it to firearms because of course it's front of mind with the Aliamanu tragedy, but what I don't want people to forget is the increase in gun violence, particularly in Honolulu.

I know that I'm very Honolulu centric and I'm going to definitely work within the next few months to broaden my view to ensure that all the way from, you know, Big Island to Kauai, I understand the needs of each community and I can make adjustments as such, but I guess that would come in time.

So, the other question I have is more of a two part. It's on recruitment. So, obviously, one is why would you leave such a long-standing career at the Honolulu Police Department to become Director? And then two, in recruiting yourself to come over, how can you recruit others to really build up the force?

And do you see DLE creating sort of a state police force?

Absolutely. So, first and foremost, the reason why I came is that I do feel, and in my heart, that I was ready to lead the opportunity. This opportunity presented itself. And it's one of those things where I don't know the nice way to say it, but you either put up or you quiet, right?

So, you know it was that opportunity for me to come over. Definitely I'm taking a lot of risk, in regards to benefits, but when opportunities come up, you just have to grab them by the horns, and you have to do what you can to make it worthwhile.

So, I think that for me, definitely the retirement parity would need to get fixed, so that I could attract other county—very skilled county workers or police officers. But I think that the biggest attraction for me was the opportunity to create something that doesn't truly exist.

And all respect to Director Lowe, he came in, laid the foundation for this, but it's still very young and this type of opportunity just doesn't come along. So, even if I stayed with HPD, HPD is very established. A lot of the things are going on.

And even if I were to become the Chief of Police, there's not really much inventing that can go on. There's a lot of adjustment that can take place. But with the DLE, it really allows me to be creative. It really allows me to tackle issues that I feel are important in law enforcement.

And because the counties will always have the sheer mass in numbers, it allows me to, I guess, focus on specialty issues that the counties may not have resources to address, like ag crimes are the latest thing, right. And the reason why it's important for us to expand is that we're one of the only—actually we are the only state in the nation that doesn't have a formal police force.

And what that does is it puts the pressure on each county to be the one stop shop. And neither is it fair to the counties for it to be that way, nor is it safe.

And what I mean by that is the counties are stuck by their jurisdiction. So, for example, when Lahaina happened, right, there had to be cross deputization to move people and if the DLE—and the DLE did send people—but in a perfect world, the state could move resources very quickly because we're deputized—actually, we're not deputized.

We have law enforcement powers in all counties. So, we should always be the tip of the spear whenever a county is overrun. And again, that will come in time. That will come with a state police class and that would come with an extension of personnel.

And as a follow up to that, will the extension of a state police class—I know we're working through a pilot, I think, in area with school resource officers, right—so, do you sort of envision that and sort of expanding on state-owned facilities with a state police force?

Absolutely. I'm big on Kuleana and I think that one of the gripes I used to have as a county officer was, why, why are we having to deal with all of these state facilities? So, now, I'm on the other side of the coin. It's important for me to own that and grow.

And I know that we have a lot of state facilities, so a lot—the lower risk, right, and not to say that anywhere is more important than the next, but those that tend to have less problems would likely be surveyed through tech. And those that are of higher risk, you would see live bodies.

And again, those, those can shift and move throughout time, and I think that one of my strengths is my ability to pivot. And actually, I know it sounds terrible, but I perform my best when I feel like I'm going to lose. So, I like the pressure. I enjoy it.

And I don't know if that's good or bad, in regards to my psychology, but, you know, I definitely enjoy the challenge and that's why I'm here.

Thank you. Members, any other questions for Director Lambert? Okay. If not, thank you so much, Director.

Thank you.

Our next item is GM567. This is submitting for confirmation and confirmation as a chairperson of the Hawaii paroling authority, Guma nominee Gene DeMello Jr. For a term to expire on 6302028. First up on our list is Lauren Walker, Director of Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice.

Hi. Thank you for this opportunity. We are very much in support of Gene DeMello for this position. We've only known him a few years. But he came to our parole completion. Celebration, which very few of the parole board does do, and he has an excellent reputation.

And yeah, he just has a lot of aloha and we think he's great. Thank you.

Thank you, Director. Tommy Johnson, DCR. Okay. DCR in support, Corey Recking, administrator for Hawaii Paroling Authority. In support, Fred Hunter.

Hello. Good afternoon. Chair, Vice Chair, Committee Members, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Edmund Fred. Everybody calls me Hyun. And I've known, I've been able to work with Mr. Di Melo for nigh on four years. We work very closely.

So I can personally attest to his honesty, his character, his ethics, as well as his fair decision making, balancing the community safety as well as inmate rehabilitation and reentry and community supervision. One thing that most people don't know, and I don't believe it was on any of the other testimony, is that Mr.

Dimelo is also a Member of the Association of Parole Authorities International, also known as APAI and that is composed of chairs of different states as well as countries. And he's been an active Member since 2021 and currently sits on the Professional Development Committee, which plans the annual conferences and solicits resources nationally and internationally. Thank you.

So this puts everyone, puts him in a very good position for the state. Thank you.

Thank you. And then in addition to Mr. Hun, we have seven more people in support for GM567. Is there anyone else that wishes to testify on GM567? Okay. If not, we'll call the nominee, Interim Chair DeMello. Aloha and welcome. If you can introduce yourself and say why you want to serve.

Okay. Good afternoon, chair, Vice Chair and Committee Members. My name is Gene DeMello Jr. I am the nominee for the chairperson for the Hawaii Parole Authority. I come to this position through my experience in the federal and state corrections and probation and parole systems.

Came out of retirement in 2021 and joined the board as a board Member and did that for the past four years.

That's really where I had learned the ins and outs of how decisions are made and the challenges that face the inmates, challenges that exist within our correctional system, and the challenges that the parole officers have as well in terms of making sound recommendations to the board for actions and in supervising high risk felons as well.

So one thing that drew me to this work is, and to bring myself out of retirement is actually being in a position to make critical decisions and kind of figuring it all out.

So the chair position on a board Member position is very challenging and demanding in that we have to ingest all of the information and come up with the best possible decision that balances public safety, rehabilitation, and offering inmates the opportunity to transition.

Ultimately, if we do not provide the opportunity, they will return with less resources and supervision and probably unfavorable outcomes. My background, I came from the Federal Probation office in which I served the U.S. district Court.

When I first started in the federal system, we were all about enforcement and compliance, which means we monitored conditions, had people come to us, went out to them, and either found them in compliance or not returned them to court. There was a little opportunity for treatment.

We later migrated to evidence based practices, which means that we stopped doing the monitoring of conditions as a primary duty and got into the triggers and roots of why criminal behavior happens and went after the causes of those things through treatment opportunities and addressing criminal thinking, and tried to change, encourage people to change behaviors.

The approach to that work is very different than where I came from. So I bring that to the parole and authority today in the hopes that a lot of what I learned and used in my prior career that did not work, Try to avoid those things and focus on things that do work.

Thank you, Members. Any questions? Okay, I have a few. Okay. First one is, how do you balance, you know, with the challenges you mentioned about public safety? Right. When you release folks on parole, does it ever come to mind about capacity issues at our prison and jails?

Well, we're aware of the population counts in the facilities, but that doesn't really drive our individualized decisions. Everything is based on what we have before us. So what risk the person presents, what the person has achieved and accomplished, and where they are headed.

Meaning that we have to assess what they present to us in terms of their readiness and try to wade through talk versus actions type deals. So it's difficult in the sense that you want to help out where DCR needs the help, but it also comes down to the individual before us.

And then last question I have is, do you have sort of a vision or how we can improve at the Paroling Authority?

I do. Re entry is one of my hot priorities right now. And when I got there in August, kind of figured out that we need to do the work in a different way, meaning, you know, we're going to insert ourselves into the process. Sorry. If you can move the mic. Thank you.

So what we did was change the way that we approached our release planning. So we're pairing up officers with the inmates on a one to one basis and getting the case managers involved and collaborating and building the best parole plan that we can for their success.

Thank you.

Members, any other questions? Okay. If not, thank you so much.

Okay, thank you.

Move on to our next item on our agenda. GM 620. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Hawaii Paroling Authority Gubernatorial nominee Linda Rich for a term to expire on June 30th, 2028. First up on our list is Lauren Walker.

Hi, Lauren Walker with the Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice. And we very much support Linda Rich. She has a wealth of experience. I've known her personally for over 30 years and just can't, you know, support her any higher than this. Thank you.

Okay, thank you so much. Alan Johnson in support. From Hinamalka, interim chair Gene DeMello Jr. in support. Okay. Stands in written testimony in support. Thank you. Administrator Reckon Cory.

Stand by my written testimony in support. Thank you.

Okay. In support. That was the administrator for the Hawaii Paroling Authority. Director Johnson.

I'll stand on written testimony in support.

Okay. DCR in support. Thank you. Former Governor Linda Lingle.

Chair Elefante, and Vice Chair Wakai, and members of the committee. I want to start by complimenting Governor Green for submitting Linda Rich's name to this position. It was a great pick. I've known her for the past three and a half years.

As a member of the Women's Prison Project, she brings a kind of experience that's crucial for a member of the Paroling Authority, and that is what's out in the community that can help a person successfully re enter society. She'll put public safety first, but she'll also treat every single person with respect and dignity.

People coming before the Paroling Authority, I know because I interact with so many women in prison. It's a hard thing for them to do. To go there and have to ask strangers, you know, please do this for me and vote this way so I can get out of prison. Linda knows that, and she will treat people respectfully.

Also, I can tell you that while she's a collaborative person, the Women's Prison Project is a very diverse group. When something needs to be said, she's not afraid to stand up and say it, but she does it in a way that doesn't offend everybody else.

She's very collaborative, and I'm really in strong support of her confirmation, and I ask for your support as well.

Thank you Governor. Fred Yoon

Stand in support.

Okay, in support. Deborah. Okay. Spencer Chung in support from Adult Friends for Youth. And then we have 24- 25 more individuals in support for GM 620. Is there anyone else? Okay.

Is there anyone else that wishes to testify on GM 620? Okay. If not, we'll call the nominee, Ms. Rich. Aloha and welcome.

Thank you.

You can identify yourself for the record and then share why you want to serve.

Sure. My name is Linda Rich, and I'm an interim member of the board at this time. I think if you heard what Chair DeMello was saying, it represents a lot of why I want to be a part of the Paroling Authority at this point. I believe this is really a pivotal time.

You know, it- it's not just changing the name of the Department to say Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. I think that it's really the goal to move toward a really more rehabilitative corrections system. And the Paroling Authority plays a really key role.

My background is not corrections and it's not law enforcement, but I also know that 90% of the people who are in our prisons have drug addiction issues, and a very high percentage of them also have mental health issues. That's where my skill comes. My skill comes in assessment. It comes in transition planning.

It comes in knowing what's appropriate and not appropriate in the community in terms of level of care. Yeah. So for me, it's a very exciting opportunity to be able to use my past career experience. I also came out of retirement to be able to collaborate in moving this system forward. So thank you.

Welcome. Members, questions for the nominee? The chair just has one question for you, Ms. Rich, in hearing from Interim Chair DeMello share about sort of a rehabilitative re entry.

Yes.

Being that you have skill set in this field, where do you see your role on the Hawaii Paroling Authority and ensuring that those coming out on parole have the resources they need to rehabilitate fully if they're able to?

Well, I will tell you very honestly that it's sometimes a real challenge because the capacity in the community is not what it needs to be to meet the demand.

And there are certain populations with some of our chronically mentally ill that we have incarcerated with our sex offenders, with some other specialized groups, it's very difficult to find a place for them in the community.

So part of what we need to do is to get creative and to try to figure out what is the most supportive thing that can be put together for the person.

Thank you. Members, any any other questions? If not, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Move on to our next item, which is GM 518. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Hawaii Advisory Council on Emergency Management Gubernatorial nominee Glenda Nogami-Streufert for a term to expire on June 30, 2028.

On our list of testifiers, first we have Mona Curry in support and Elton Ushio, administrator for the Kauai Emergency Management in support. And then we also have someone by the name of Glenda on Zoom. Oh, that is the nominee, I'm sorry.

Well, before we get to you, Dr. Streufert, is there anyone that wants to testify on GM 518 in person or on Zoom? Okay, if not, then we'll defer to you, Dr. Streufert.

Okay. And your question is why I want to be part of the HACEM, is that correct?

That's correct.

Well, I'm originally from Lanai, which is a very small community and now I live on Kauai, which is a slightly larger but still a medium-sized community in comparison to Oahu. What we find on these islands is that you have to be rather self sustaining and I-- and everybody has to participate in it.

On Lanai, if anything happened, everybody was involved and on Kauai it's the same kind of thing. Because Mr. Ushio has-- Sorry, I'm getting over a cold. Mr. Ushio, who is the administrator of the Kauai Emergency Management Agency, has been able to mobilize everybody. If something happens on Kauai, everyone is mobilized.

I find that an extraordinary accomplishment because we are-- although we're a small island, we have only one major highway that goes around the entire island. And so to get everybody involved in KEMA when we have an activation, it's a feat.

That's because they all trust him and they all trust everything that we, that KEMA has done. We also have a very supportive administration, and that helps us a lot in terms of getting things accomplished.

I also think that I've learned a lot from being in a small town or from a small town on Lanai and living in Washington D.C. and in a medium town in the Midwest gives me a different perspective. I've also lived in and taught in Germany.

So I'm trying to bring all of those perspectives to Kauai and to assist in whatever way I can to help the community to, to be more resilient and to be more prepared for anything that might happen. At this point, I'm very supportive of everything that KEMA has done.

And I think that Mr. Ushio and his staff have done an extraordinary thing in getting us prepared for any emergency that we might have in the future. And with that, I will-- If you have any questions about my background, I'd be more than happy to talk to you about that. Well, I have-- I'll go a little bit into that.

I have worked with the Department of Army in leadership positions. I've worked with them as a research psychologist, but also as a Professor at the Army War College and the educational director or director of academics at the Army Management Staff College, which is the college for all army civilians in supervisory and management and leadership positions.

Since then, I've also worked with Immigration Naturalization Service, and when that was reorganized into the Department of Homeland Security, I brought the programs that we had that I developed in INS to Homeland Security, and we started the Workforce Effectiveness and Environment Group. And from there I went to the Army Management Staff College as the academic dean.

And from there I retired and came to Kauai and hopefully can contribute-- can continue to contribute to Kauai and our preparedness. So thank you for the opportunity to present this and thank you for the opportunity to participate in this.

Thank you. Members, questions for the nominee? If not, thank you so much. Our next item is GM 621, which was deleted from our agenda. And finally, our last item is GM 622. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Correctional Industries Advisory Committee Gubernatorial nominee Donnie Utu for a term to expire on June 30th, 2028.

On our list of testifiers, we have Kamakana Kaimuloa from UPW.

Hello, chair, vice chair, members of the committee, Kamakana Kaimuloa, Government Affairs Manager for UPW. You have our written testimony. Strong support of the nominee. I just want to note that I've known Mr. Uti for a long time.

Probably one of only a handful of individuals that have had the pleasure and privilege of playing alongside him on both the football field as well as the basketball court. And I'll tell you, he's one of the finest receivers to ever come out of this state.

And while that's not relevant here, I merely bring that up because I know he's a little nervous. And I hope that my compliments bring him a little ease. So, mahalo.

Thank you. Christian Fern, Executive Director for UPA. Okay. In support. Thank you. Randy Perreira, HGEA.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Nui Sebast here with HGEA. We'll stand on our testimony on strong support of this governor's message. Mahalo.

Thank you. We also have Randy Perreira from AFL-CIO in support. Tuia'ana Scanlan in support for IATSE 665. Director Johnson, DCR. Okay. DCR in support. Thank you. Anna-- in support. And that's it. Is there anyone else that wishes to testify on GM 622?

Okay, if not, we'll call on Mr. Utu. Aloha and welcome.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Aloha. My name is Donny--

If you don't mind, if you can just speak into the mic. Yeah, thank you.

My name is Donny Utu. And why I want to serve on this Advisory Committee is because you know my experience, I'm all about advocacy.

I have experience in the social work field working with incarcerated individuals, currently supervisor with Hawaii Government Employees Association. We advocate for currently the correctional industries' employees. So I'm eager to work with the other Committee Members in hopes to try to get some financial stability in this correctional industries and help in any way I can.

Members, questions for Mr. Utu? If not-- zero, Vice Chair Wakai.

Okay. Sorry. Mr. Utu, I just-- I'm looking at your responses to the Chair's questions and to be honest, the responses are very vague. You don't have any clear plans to help provide for services for these inmates other than saying that you're going to collaborate with other people.

Can you give us like, some specifics as to how you want to revamp the way we help incarcerated people get out of prison and have a viable vocation?

Well, I think if I don't have any specific plans, right. But what I do have is I'm good at listening, so I'm a team player. I'm here to work with others.

I think if you don't get the financial backing of a program like this, then it kind of falls to the wayside and everything else falls apart from the incarcerated individuals who get out, they'll end up repeating and coming back in because they don't get the vocational skills.

I'm still learning at this, trying to get this, work with others, but, you know, hopefully I can do that.

Yeah. But Mr. Utu, I appreciate the fact that you're willing to listen, but you're being asked to help lead Correctional Industries Advisory Committee to a better place. So I would think that you'd have some ideas on how to get to a better place.

But from your responses here, you offer no specifics on what exactly you're going to contribute other than being a good listener to this group.

Understand, I work to support these as my current jobs. I work to advocate for employees. And what I wanted to do is try to get them so they can get to work with these individuals.

Specific plans, sorry, I don't know what specific plans that, you know, I have in mind to support these guys, but I'm just here to do my best any way I can. And I'm sorry, I don't have a specific plan on what I can do.

Yeah, no, I don't question that you have a good heart and you really want to contribute. It's just we're putting you in a position, one of three or four individual, five individuals, that they're a part of this, with the expectation that you're going to come with some semblance of leadership, that you want to achieve this.

But I just don't get that from this other than you want to be a warm body and listen to and support whatever the other members want to put forth. You have absolutely no ideas on how to improve this correctional industry.

Ideas of, you know, financially working with other businesses, right. Trying to get them working with businesses so we can get the financial backing and getting them more positions, you know, other than with contracts with the state and the city, you know, and that's where I'm at on that.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Chair.

Yes. Senator DeCorte.

Thank you. Thank you for being here, Donnie. I noticed here that you graduated from Punahou, but if you don't mind, where did you grow up?

I grew up in Merritt housing. Kalihi. So, yeah, grew up there and then went public school all my life and then attended Punahou in ninth grade.

Okay, very good. Was that Farrington or-- Oh, you went straight to Punahou. Okay, so thank you for answering that. The reason that I asked you that is because as far as my community specifically, a lot of the crime is being driven by shots that are being called from in the prisons.

And so it seems as though the questions of my colleagues, you don't necessarily have a plan or a strategy, but I would like to implore you with the task of finding out how to lessen the communication from the shots that are being called in the prison to outside on the streets.

Because there are still gang leaders and members that are in the correctional facilities, and those calls are being shot out into my community, and kids are using that as opportunities to, whether it, you know, shoot somebody down for retaliation or whatever the case may be. So something is going on inside the correctional facility.

I've talked to a few members, directors in the Correctional Department, and I would really like to see you use this position as an opportunity to really show your leadership skills. You've accomplished a lot through sports. It's obvious you're a team player. You've been able to really get a lot of, you know, awards in that way.

But I would like to really implore you, because you come from Kalihi, you understand the community that I come from. We're very similar in our districts that are very impoverished. We have high criminal rates. We have the most native Hawaiians, which Kalihi has the most Polynesians as well.

But I say that because I really want you to rise to this occasion and use the leadership skills that I know you have coming from the community that you grew up in, which took a lot of grit for you to have to overcome the temptations of falling into, whether that be street criminal activity, selling dope, whatever the case may be, you had to overcome that.

And I would really like to see you use those leadership skills in the correctional facilities and see how we can crack down on the communications from the cause that are being called from the prison into my communities because the criminals know that if they can get the youth to carry out these shootings or these criminal activities, that the laws are going to be a little less punishable for them.

So I would really like to implore you in this position, if you do, in fact, move forward, that we really need somebody to start focusing in on the shots that are being called from inside the correctional facilities into my district, or anybody's district for that matter, because there's some kind of disconnect and the word is getting out.

And kids in my community, or even adults, they're actually following through because there will be lesser sentencing for them. So I would just like to say that. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Members, any other questions for Mr. Utu? The Chair has a few questions for you. Mr. Utu. You know, the correctional industries is focused on sort of reentry. You did mention that you do work with some people re-entering back into society. I think what's critical you hear from some of my colleagues is the collaboration.

So at the very least, are you willing to collaborate with DCR, DLE, parole officers, HPA, you know, to find out how vocational reentry and programs can be successful as inmates or former inmates reenter into society?

I think that's what I need to do, right, is talking to everybody and trying to find out what is the best vocational program or skills that they need to get out to reintegrate into society successfully.

So you're willing to do that and I think based with your experience--

Yeah.

So I noticed, I'm just looking that there are in the current makeup of the Hawaii correctionals industry, there are three vacant positions. Do you folks already-- Do folks experience issues with quorum and meetings, like having enough people to run meetings, or do you meet often?

We had maybe one meeting so far, but sometimes we do have some quorums.

Okay, and then just to be clear, your nominee is not for someone representing a labor union or labor. It's just in your individual capacity? Okay, thank you. Members, any other questions for Mr. Utu? Okay, if not, thank you so much.

Okay, members, I'm ready to go into decision-making. For our first item on our agenda, which is GM 645, this is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Department of Law Enforcement gubernatorial nominee Mike Lambert for a term to expire on 12/7/2026. Position was corrected by GM 650. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent.

With that, members, any further discussion? The chair just has a few remarks. I want to thank Director Lambert for really coming across the street to serve at our state level.

As Senator Fukunaga and I, we've personally worked closely with you with the whole new project, and I've seen the good works that you do, and we're really excited to see what you can do and really be the tip of the spear for law enforcement, so fully support this recommendation. Any other discussion, members? Okay, if not, chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]. Chair, your recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause]. Next up is GM 567. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation as chairperson of the Hawaii Paroling Authority gubernatorial nominee Gene DeMello Jr. for a term to expire on June 30, 2028. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent. Any further discussion? If not, chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]. Chair, your recommendation's adopted.

Congratulations. [Applause]. Okay, moving on to GM 620. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Hawaii Paroling Authority gubernatorial nominee Linda Rich for a term to expire on June 30, 2028. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent. Any further discussion? If not, chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]. Chair, your recommendation's adopted.

Congratulations. [Applause]. The next item is GM 518. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Hawaii Advisory Council on Emergency Management gubernatorial nominee Glenda Nogami Streufert for term to expire on June 30, 2028. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent. Any further discussion? If not, chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Congratulations, Director Streufert, if you're still on Zoom. [Applause]. And as previously mentioned, GM 621 was deleted from the agenda, which brings us to our last item is GM 622. This is submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Correctional Industries Advisory Committee gubernatorial nominee Donny Utu for term to expire on June 30, 2028. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent. Any further discussion? Okay, if not, chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Congratulations to Mr. Utu. [Applause]. This completes our agenda for today. We are adjourned.