University of Hawaii Board of Regents candidates announced

A dozen finalists for three available seats on the University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents have been revealed, and include former Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Keith Amemiya, candidate for lieutenant governor during last year’s election.

The Candidate Advisory Council has presented the list of candidates to Gov. Josh Green to fill one Honolulu County seat, one Maui County seat and one Hawaii County seat for five-year appointments. The appointments begin on July 1, subject to confirmation by the Hawaii state Senate.

The CAC began accepting applications to fill the vacancies last year by contacting and encouraging government, business and community leaders to nominate candidates. It also placed print advertisements encouraging applications.

The council is responsible for conducting recruitment efforts, accepting and screening BOR applications, and interviewing and presenting candidates to the governor.

The BOR governs the UH system and consists of 11 volunteer members. Five candidates represent the City and County of Honolulu, two represent Hawaii County, two represent Maui County, one represents Kauai County and one is a UH student.

The finalists for the available Honolulu County seat are: Neil Abercrombie, Keith Amemiya, Matthew Matsunaga, Mary Oneha and Wai‘ale‘ale Sarsona.

The Maui County seat finalists are: Lauren Akitake, Sheri Daniels and Beverly Stanich.

The Hawaii County seat finalists are: Michael Miyahira, Kona Moran, Alapaki Nahale-a and Steven Pavao.