STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1225

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NO. 506

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 506, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of: 

 

Director, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development

 

G.M. No. 506

SCOTT GLENN,

for a term to expire at noon on 12-07-2026,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by Scott Glenn for service as the Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the appointment of Mr. Glenn from the Governor; Chief Housing Officer of the Office of the Governor; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Department of Transportation; Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Department of Public Safety; Department of Agriculture; Department of Budget and Finance; Department of Health; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Defense; Department of Education; Department of Human Services; Department of Taxation; Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority; Agribusiness Development Corporation; Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority; Office of Enterprise Technology Services; Hawaii Technology Development Corporation; Hawaii State Aha Moku; Hawaii Public Housing Authority; Hawai‘i Community Development Authority; State Environmental Advisory Council; Office of the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu; Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters; Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative; Par Hawaii; Blue Planet Foundation; Pacific Resource Partnership; Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, LLC; Waikīkī Improvement Association; AES; Hawaii Solar Energy Association; One Shared Future; Longroad Energy; and seventy-three individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to the nomination for the appointment of Mr. Glenn from Pride at Work Hawai‘i and six individuals.

 

     Mr. Glenn has served as the interim Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development since December 2022 and has adeptly navigated the duties and responsibilities of the position.  Previously, Mr. Glenn served as the Chief Energy Officer of the Hawaii State Energy Office following his appointment in 2019 and subsequent confirmation by the Legislature.  Mr. Glenn demonstrated his leadership ability by reinvigorating the Hawaii State Energy Office after the Legislature reestablished the agency in 2019 as part of an effort to help the State achieve a more resilient, clean energy economy.  Prior to that, Mr. Glenn served as the Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control, where he was responsible for the modernization of the State's environmental review process.  During that time, Mr. Glenn coordinated extensive public outreach and community engagement with interested stakeholders, and carefully balanced competing interests when updating the State's environmental review policy.

 

     Mr. Glenn also holds notable experience in the private sector, where he focused on planning, asset management, and risk analysis, and led or held key roles on multiple multi-million-dollar projects for both public and private clients.  Mr. Glenn is also active in the community and was the Co-Founder of Better Block Hawai‘i, a nonprofit empowering communities through collaborative placement projects.  Mr. Glenn also served as a member of the State Environmental Council from 2011 through 2015.  Mr. Glenn received a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Classical Archaeology from the University of Evansville, Indiana.

 

     Your Committee believes that Mr. Glenn, with nearly a decade's worth of public service experience in high-profile leadership positions, possesses the requisite qualifications to serve as the Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.  Your Committee finds that Mr. Glenn's demonstrated innovative and inclusive approach to policymaking and his core institutional knowledge on state planning, clean energy projects, and environmental sustainability, will benefit the Office as it strives to fulfill its mandate and lead on important issues, such as those relating to housing, sea level rise, and transit-oriented development.  Your Committee further believes that Mr. Glenn's close familiarity with the environmental review process will serve him well, as one of the key roles of the position is to be an advisor on all matters relating to environmental review.  Your Committee further notes the extensive number of positive comments made by testifiers as to Mr. Glenn's unimpeachable character and his collaborative, thoughtful, hardworking, and dedicated approach to public service.  Your Committee therefore recommends that Scott Glenn be appointed as Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development based on his knowledge, experience, and dedication to public service.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominee, has found the nominee to be qualified for the position to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nomination.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

 

 

 

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair