DLNR nominee is wrong choice

The mission of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is to "enhance, protect, conserve and manage Hawaii’s unique and limited natural, cultural and historic resources held in public trust for current and future generations of the people of Hawaii nei, and its visitors, in partnership with others from the public and private sectors."

This forward-looking statement rightly emphasizes preservation, and the public trust. So it’s hard to understand how a lobbyist for a private real-estate developer could possibly be the best choice to lead the stewardship of Hawaii’s priceless natural and cultural resources.

Castle & Cooke Hawaii executive Carleton Ching would be a better fit as a gubernatorial appointee to the board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency more obviously oriented toward development.

Ching, on leave as vice president of community and government relations for Castle & Cooke pending Senate confirmation, should withdraw his nomination for the DLNR post and find another way to enter public service, if that is his calling. His resume and reputation are impressive; this is simply the wrong government post.

Gov. David Ige has done the public a disservice by failing to specifically articulate why he ousted previous director William Aila in favor of Ching. The governor’s generally vague responses, such as "I like Carleton’s heart," and praise of his management experience are insufficient in the face of outright opposition by a diverse coalition of environmental groups and well-founded questions about Ching’s admitted lack of expertise in the preservation and natural resources arenas that are part-and-parcel of running the DLNR.

Ching told Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Rob Perez that he would rely on his staff to provide that knowledge, but Ige also appointed a lobbyist — this one representing the interests of shipping companies — as the first deputy at DLNR. More essentially, as goes the boss so goes the department.

Ching’s career promoting development, from housing subdivisions to windfarms, is sure to permeate his thinking, and his advice to the governor regarding the vast acreage and near-shore waters that fall under the DLNR’s purview. If confirmed, Ching, by virtue of heading DLNR, also would chair the powerful state Board of Land and Natural Resources and the state Commission on Water Resource Management — panels continually called to decide disputes over the allocation of limited resources.

Until his nomination, Ching was a board member of the Land Use Research Foundation and the Building Industry Association, two groups devoted to advancing the aims of the real-estate development and construction industries that have perennially sought — sometimes successfully — to weaken rules protecting vital public land, marine and cultural resources from commercial use. These are exactly the rules the DLNR chief is tasked with defending.

It might be too much to ask for a truly neutral DLNR director, but for Ige to choose one so clearly aligned with real-estate developers is disappointing, and signals that he is ignoring the fervor that helped sweep him into office and helped doom his predecessor’s chances at a second term. When former Gov. Neil Abercrombie pushed for too-rapid development, especially on Oahu, the voters pushed back, finding in Ige a candidate who promised openness and balance. As a candidate, Ige said his "administration will be proactive in preserving and protecting Hawaii’s fragile natural environment for future generations. We can have both a healthy environment and responsible economic growth through comprehensive planning that engages environmental interests, development interests, and other community interests."

The governor should recognize that he has fallen short with this nominee — development interests are engaged, but not environmental ones — and change course.