STAND. COM. REP. NO. 980

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 569, 570, 571, 572

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 569, 570, 571, and 572, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

 

State Highway Safety Council

 

G.M. No. 569

KAREN TESSIER,

for a term to expire 06-30-2024;

 

G.M. No. 570

HENRY ROSS,

for a term to expire 06-30-2024;

 

G.M. No. 571

VERNON SCRIBNER,

for a term to expire 06-30-2024; and

 

G.M. No. 572

CHAD TANIGUCHI,

for a term to expire 06-30-2023,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by Karen Tessier, Henry Ross, Vernon Scribner, and Chad Taniguchi for service on the State Highway Safety Council.

 

KAREN TESSIER

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the appointment of Karen Tessier from the Department of Transportation and one individual.

 

     Upon review of the testimony, your Committee finds that Ms. Tessier's experience in the field of nursing, especially her experience caring for children in the pediatric intensive care unit who were victims of motor vehicle crashes, will be very beneficial to the Council.  Ms. Tessier is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene.  Your Committee notes that Ms. Tessier is already actively contributing to highway safety in her position as Coordinator of the Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition Child Passenger Safety program as well as being a nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor.  These experiences will give Ms. Tessier a unique voice on the Council and allow her to use her personal knowledge and experiences gained from years of service to advance child safety initiatives.  Your Committee therefore finds that Ms. Tessier's knowledge, personal experience, and desire to contribute to the community will be valuable assets to the State Highway Safety Council.

 

HENRY ROSS

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the appointment of Henry Ross from the Department of Transportation and Office of the Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Kauai.

 

Your Committee finds that Mr. Ross currently serves as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Kauai.  In that role he has prosecuted all types and degrees of traffic crimes on Kauai.  Your Committee notes that Mr. Ross also serves as a Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor (TSRP) in the Kauai Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.  As a TSRP, he provides legal resources to law enforcement officers and traffic prosecutors around the State.  In his personal statement, Mr. Ross highlighted his role as a TSRP and explained how this role has provided him with the opportunity to work with a wide variety of traffic safety professionals as well as being constantly engaged in traffic safety issues.  Your Committee therefore finds that Mr. Ross's knowledge, personal experience, and desire to contribute to the community will be valuable assets to the State Highway Safety Council.

 


VERNON SCRIBNER

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the appointment of Vernon Scribner from the Department of Transportation, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Kauai, Kauai County Police Department, and one individual.

 

Your Committee finds that Mr. Scribner currently serves as a Sergeant with the Kauai Police Department.  Mr. Scribner brings decades of policing experience to the Council and will be able to provide valuable insights to traffic safety from a law enforcement perspective.  Your Committee also notes that during his more than twenty years of service with the Kauai Police Department, Mr. Scribner worked for six years as a Traffic Crash Reconstructionist and for the past two years as the Acting Commander for the Kauai Police Department's Traffic Safety Section.  In those roles, Mr. Scribner has responded to numerous serious and fatal injury crashes and will bring that wealth of experience to bear while working with the Council to improve highway safety.  Your Committee therefore finds that Mr. Scribner's knowledge, personal experience, and desire to contribute to the community will be valuable assets to the State Highway Safety Council.

 

CHAD TANIGUCHI

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the reappointment of Chad Taniguchi from the Department of Transportation.

 

     Your Committee finds that Mr. Taniguchi is the Emeritus Director for the Hawaii Bicycling League (HBL) and the former Executive Director for the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.  Mr. Taniguchi has previously served on the State Highway Safety Council from 2011 until 2018 and the experience he gained will be a valuable resource.  Your Committee notes Mr. Taniguchi's commitment to the State's Vision Zero policy, a state-wide policy that seeks to prevent and ultimately eliminate all traffic fatalities in the State, and is impressed by his work with Robert's Hawaii while serving as the Executive Director of the HBL.  Robert's Hawaii drivers had been responsible for accidents that resulted in at least one pedestrian or cyclist fatality each year between 2006 and 2010 until Mr. Taniguchi and HBL worked with them to reduce that number to zero fatal accidents since 2010.  Your Committee therefore finds that Mr. Taniguchi's knowledge, personal experience, and desire to contribute to the community will be valuable assets to the State Highway Safety Council.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

 

 

 

____________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair