Koolau Loa Neighborhood Board split over vacant Hauula seat

Members of the Koolau Loa Neighborhood Board could not reach an agreement over who should fill a vacancy for Hauula District at last month’s meeting. Board member Creighton Mattoon nominated Barbara Kahana, a business owner, former director of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) and, currently, the president of the board of directors for the Kahuku Medical Center to fill the vacancy.

The board minutes show no discussion over her nomination. Chair Verla Moore called for a vote but the nomination for Kahana failed to pass. The vote was split evenly 5-5-0. Members Kent Fonoimoana, Burton Greene, Dee Dee Letts, Mattoon and Kerry Moea’i voted yes, while Michael Foley, Gaylene Lolofie, Kela Miller, Norman Thompson and the chair, Moore, voted no.

Thompson then nominated Louis Prescott, another business owner, to fill the vacancy. Again, the minutes show no discussion. Chair Moore called for the vote and, once again, the nomination failed to pass. The vote was once again split, 5-5-0, with Foley, Lolofie, Miller, Moore and Thompson voting yes and Fonoimoana, Greene, Letts, Mattoon and Moea’i voting no.

The fifth vote for Prescott and against Kahana came from Michael Foley, who had, himself, just been appointed to the board to fill another vacancy (this one from Laie) mere minutes before the Hauula seat votes. Granted, he was appointed with a vote of 6-3-0 (AYE: Lolofie, Mattoon, Miller, Moea’i, Moore and Thompson. NAY: Fonoimoana, Greene and Letts), but the minutes show that, before the board members voted on Foley’s appointment, members Lolofie and Thompson moved to close the nominations for the Laie district. Once again, the minutes show no discussion.

If the Laie seat had been second on the agenda (and the Hauula vote had split the same way), Kahana would have been appointed to the Hauula seat by a 5-4-0 vote. Instead, the board has deferred the Hauula seat vacancy until the March meeting.