After nearly two months of intense scrutiny and vocal opposition to his nomination, Carleton Ching — and the general public — will learn Wednesday whether he’s to lead the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The 25-member state Senate will vote during its 11:30 a.m. floor session on Gov. David Ige’s controversial pick of Ching, a Castle & Cooke executive, to lead the state agency that oversees Hawaii’s public lands. The session will be broadcast on ‘Olelo Channel 49 on Oahu, Na Leo on Hawaii island, Akaku on Maui and Ho‘ike on Kauai, according to a news release.
The vote remains close, according to sources at the state Capitol. As of Tuesday afternoon, several senators remained on the fence while others were poised to vote along coalition lines that have formed within the chamber.
The move to bring Ching’s appointment forward for a floor vote also follows a scathing report on his nomination by the Water and Land Committee, which last week voted 5-2 to recommend rejecting Ching as the DLNR director.
Ching spent about six weeks familiarizing himself with DLNR and its issues, but "after all this time and meetings, the nominee did not bring forward a clear understanding of the DLNR’s core values, or provide any vision of how he would approach the challenges of resource management," the report stated.
More than 1,100 pieces of written testimony submitted by groups and individuals oppose confirming Ching, while more than 270 pieces of testimony from groups and people support his confirmation, according to the committee report. Many of the groups supporting Ching are tied to construction trade and business-oriented pursuits, while those opposing are generally environmental advocates and conservation-oriented.
The report further expressed concerns about the influence that Castle & Cooke, one of the state’s largest developers, might have on Ching, a longtime lobbyist. "There is no question that Castle & Cooke will have some interaction with the DLNR over the next four years," the report stated.
Committee Chairwoman Laura Thielen was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
The full Senate vote on Ching will not be on the committee’s recommendation. Instead, it will be a separate vote on whether to approve Ige’s pick.
Ige, meanwhile, intended to meet with senators "to answer their questions and to provide information about why he made this nomination," according to a statement issued this week.
The governor has touted Ching’s managerial strengths as a reason why he should lead DLNR’s 10 divisions and 900 employees.
