State of Hawaii 2001 Reapportionment Commission Final Report and Reapportionment Plan Submitted to The Twenty-First Legislature Regular Session 2002 Submitted by: Office of Elections L rL STATE OF HAWAII 2001 REAPPORTIONMENT PROJECT State Capitol, Room 411 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Wayne K. Minami Chair The Honorable Robert Bunda, President and Members of the Senate Jill E. Frierson Vice-Chair The Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say, Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives Deron K. Akiona Twenty-first State Legislature Lori J. G. Hoo State Capitol Shelton G. W. Jim On Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Lynn C. Kinney Dear Sirs and Mesdames: Kenneth T. G. Lum Harold S. Masumoto The 2001 Reapportionment Commission submits the final Reapportionment Commission Report pursuant to Article III, Section 4, Hawaii State Constitution, and DavidW. Rae section 25-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes. This report addresses the plans adopted by the Commission to govern the election of the members of the next five succeeding legislatures of the State of Hawaii and also elections of the representatives of the State of Hawaii to the United States House of Representatives for the next five succeeding congresses commencing with the election of 2002. The report discusses the work done by the Commission and offers recommendations for future reapportionments. Sincerely, K. MINAMI, Chairperson E. FRIERSON, Vice-Chairperson DERON K. AKIONA ~GJtiL. L~ SHELTONG.W. JIMONc1~L --4'- - ~.I . \. -!~~ --.,__,,-n·'~~ ~~ NNETHT.~. L~~ ~·k~ David ~J. Rae ** HAROLD S. MASUMOTO DAVIDW.RAE ** Mr. Rae approved the final report but was not available for signature prior to printing. L I I,_ r- 1 r L l f STATE OF HAWAII 2001 REAPPORTIONMENT COMMISSION FINAL REPORT AND REAPPORTIONMENT PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Membership of the Commission and the Advisory Councils . .. .. .. .. ... .. 1 Ackn.owledgments ................ .................................... ....................................... 2 Procedure Followed ......................................................................................... 4 Commission's Principal Tasks ........................................................................ 11 Legal Constraints and Districting Criteria . .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 11 The Reapportionment Plans . .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15 Staggering of State Senate Districts Seats ............... ................. ....................... 26 Recommendations for Future Reapportionment ........... ........... ................. ...... 27 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 30 Appendix A, Minutes of the Regular Meetings of the 2001 Reapportionment Commission ... ..... .............. ... ......... ......... ........ ....... A-1 Appendix B, Summary of Correspondence Received Report and Recommendations from the Advisory Councils ...................... B-1 Appendix C, Financial Report .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. C-1 Appendix D, District B9undary Descriptions of the 2001 Reapportionment Plan . .. .. .... .. .. .. .. ... ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. D-1 Appendix E, Maps of the 2001 Reapportionment Plan ... ... ......... ....... ............. E-1 V L ,­ i l~ ' L l ' r MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION AND THE ADVISORY COUNCILS 1. The Commission. Article IV, Section 2, State Constitution, prescribes the manner in which the members of the reapportionment commission are to be appointed. Pursuant to this section, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the leader of the minority party members of the Senate, and the leader of the minority party members of the House of Representatives, all of the State legislature, each appointed two persons to the 2001 Reapportionment Commission (the "Commission") as follows: Appointing Authority Commission Members Appointed President of the Senate David Rae Lynn Kinney Speaker of the House of Representatives Lori Hoo Harold Masumoto Minority party leader, the Senate Kenny Lum *Rick Clifton *Shelton Jim On Minority party leader, the House of Representatives Deron Akiona Jill Frierson All of the above members, except Shelton Jim On, were appointed on or before May 1, 2001, as prescribed by the State Constitution. These members in turn selected Wayne K. Minami as the ninth member and chairperson of the Commission. This selection was made on May 31, 2001, within the thirty-day time period prescribed by the State Constitution for the appointment of the ninth member. Dwayne D. Yoshina, Chief Election Officer served as secretary to the Commission. *Rick Clifton resigned from the Commission on July 6, 2001 and *Shelton Jim On was appointed to the Commission on July 19. 2001. 2. The advisory councils. At the same time that they each named two members to serve on the Commission, the appointing authorities, pursuant to the State Constitution, each appointed one member to each of the basic island unit's apportionment advisory councils, as follows: 2001 Reapportionment Commission, Final Report and Reapportionment Plan Appointing Authorlty Advisory Council Members Appointed President of the Senate Georgine Busch - Hawaii Dennis Esaki - Kauai i Manuel Moniz - Maui l Robert Ogawa - Oahu l __ Speaker of the House of Representatives Wayne Metcalf - Hawaii Jerome Hew - Kauai Mark Andrews - Maui Stephen Goodenow - Oahu Minority party leader, the Senate Frank Jung- Hawaii Betty Chandler - Kauai Frederick Rohlfing - Maui Geal Talbert - Oahu Minority party leader, Shirley Spencer - Hawaii the House of Representatives Trinette Kaui - Kauai L_ Madge Schaefer - Maui James Hall - Oahu ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout the performance of their reapportionment and redistricting tasks, the members of the Commission have been reminded of the great magnitude of their responsibilities. The Commission could not have discharged these responsibilities but for the encouragement and assistance of many people. The Commission owes a debt of gratitude to each of them. In particular, the Commission wishes to acknowledge with heartfelt thanks the assistance of the following. 1. The Public. During the course of its deliberations, the Commission had the opportunity to hear from and discuss with various people in the community the many aspects of reapportionment and redistricting. To name all such persons individually would result in an exhaustive list. A limited listing of these people are contained in those sections of this report dealing with the Commission's public hearings. The Commission would like to thank all members of the public who participated in .the Commission's public hearings and meetings or who provided , written testimony or comments to the Commission. '- r 2 2001 Reapportionment Commission, Final Report and Reapportionment Plan 2. The Advisory Councils. Under the State Constitution, the advisory councils of each basic island unit were vested with the responsibility of advising and counseling the Commission with respect to reapportionment and redistricting within that basic island unit. The Commission notes that every council discharged that responsibility well. The Commission is grateful for the work of the councils in measuring the pulse of their respective basic island units and in recommending changes to the plans for their respective island units. A portion of the final reapportionment plan for the State legislative districts reflects the views and recommendations of the advisory councils. 3. The Project Office Staff. The project office staff was responsible for technical, logistical, and support services to the Commission including the day-to-day operations of the Commission's office. The Office of Elections provided the project office staff The Commission is very appreciative of the work performed by the project office staff Without the project office staff's great and diligent efforts, the Commission could not have completed its work in the limited time provided. The project ~ffice staff included: David J. Rosenbrock, Project Manager Lawrence F. Chun, Administrative Assistant Darlene K. Naluai, Secretary Cynthia H. Fukunaga, Geographic Information System Technician Strather D. Ing, Geographic Information System Technician 4. Office ofElections In addition to the project office staff, the Office of Elections staff provided additional logistical and support services to the Commission and the project office. Dwayne Yoshina, Chief Election Officer Rex Quidilla, Administrative Assistant Scott Nago, Counting Center Section Head Robynn Y okooji, Election Support Services Section Head John K.laneski, Election Support Services Specialist Linda Lee, Secretary Amy Kam, Clerk Steno David Takashima, Acting Computer Services Section Head Les Yoshinaga, Programmer/Analyst Mike Adelman, Warehouse Supervisor Wayne Hirayama, Warehouse Crew Chief Lori Tomczyk, Ballot Operations Section Head Stacy Honma, Ballot Operations Specialist Estelle Allen, Voter Services Section Head 3 2001 Reapportionment Commission, Final Report and Reapportionment Plan Darcie Ching, Precinct Operations Specialist ,-- Jill Umetsu, Voter Services Specialist Willow Cole, Voter Services Specialist Rhowell Ruiz, Clerical Charles Yamanaka, Volunteer 5. Professionals. I The Commission relied on a team of professionals from the Department of the Attorney General and the commupity to aid them both in understanding the problems related to reapportionment and in performing the Commission's