MINUTES OF THE COMMISSION ON THE 13TH FESTIVAL OF
PACIFIC ARTS & CULTURE (FestPAC) MEETINGTUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2023 AT 3:00 PM
VIA VIRTUAL APPLICATION ZOOM: VIDEO / AUDIO CONFERENCE
Commission Members Present:
Kalani Kaʻanāʻanā
Maenette Ah Nee-Benham
Snowbird Bento
Māpuana de Silva
Jamie Lum
Richard Onishi-Hawaʻi Tourism Authority Designee (HTA)
Governor’s Designee
Community Member At-Large
Community Member At-Large
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism(DBEDT)- House Speaker’s Designee

Staff:
Elise Amemiya
Micah ‘Ākau
Maka Casson FisherIrina De La Torre-Apologies:
Sylvia Hussey
Jarrett Keohokālole
Kehaulani Puʻu

- Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)- Senate President’s Designee- City and County of Honolulu Designee

Deputy Attorney GeneralHTAHTAHTACALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Kalani Kaʻanāʻanā at 3:02 p.m., who welcomed
everyone present via ZOOM.
The Chair called upon Commissioner Lum to provide the wehena (opening).
Commissioner Lum began by sharing a message she heard at a recent celebration of life that sheattended for Fred Cachola. The message was “Do more for more” a phrase Fred often told hisstaff. His daughter further described that he was “a trailblazing educator and cultural advocateservant leader.” He was an educator in Waianae until 1971 when he started working atKamehameha Schools as a new Director for the Extension Education program. This brand-new
program set Kamehameha Schools on a new path to educating students and others with morekeiki in the communities. Most of the programs they started are still around today such as theExplorations program and various at-risk youth programs in the DOE. They eventually branchedout to adult education and provided scholarships. Commissioner Lum continued to share that theMinutes of the Commission on the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 2:00 pm
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idea to “do more for more” can be carried out in their work here as commissioners and as weplan for this festival. She concluded the wehena with the closing thought about our collective
kuleana to “do more for more” on behalf of our pacific islander brothers and sisters.
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā thanked Commissioner Lum for her wehena and the remainder of our kuleana
to the community and the work that we do. He also mentioned how it was a beautiful tribute toFred and his ‘ohana who supported him all these years.
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā conducted roll-call. Commissioners Benham, Bento, de Silva, Lum, andOnishi responded that they were present and alone at their respective locations. Commissioners
Keohokālole, Hussey, and Puʻu were excused. Chair recognized that there were no publicattendees at the in-person venue or at the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority office.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON AGENDA ITEMSNo testimony was received in advance of the day’s meeting. The chair invited members of thepublic to testify on the agenda items. Hearing none, he continued with agenda items.
REPORT ON PERMITTED INTERACTIONS, PURSUANT TO ACT 103, SESSIONLAWS OF HAWAIʻI 2021
The Chair reported that none of the committees met and asked if there were any other permitted
interactions. Hearing none, he continued with agenda items.
APPROVAL OF MARCH 31, 2023 MEETING MINUTES
The minutes were distributed and reviewed by Commissioners. Commissioner Lum made amotion to approve the minutes unamended and it was seconded by Commissioner Onishi. Therewas no discussion. A roll call vote was requested with the following Commissioners approving
the motion to approve the minutes: Chair Kaʻanāʻanā, Commissioner Benham, Commissioner
Bento, Commissioner de Silva, Commissioner Onishi, and Commissioner Lum. Commissioners
Hussey, Keohokālole and Puʻu were excused. With the members present the minutes of March31, 2023 were adopted unamended.
PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION REGARDING THE FESTIVAL
DIRECTOR REPORT OF FESTIVAL DIRECTORChair Kaʻanāʻanā shared that Festival Director Salā would share some quick updates but would
have to leave for another meeting shortly after. Festival Director Salā thanked everyone whohelped with the CPAC meeting in March and a “hearty” mahalo to Benton Pang, Christine
Martin, and their team from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others involved in the workaround biosecurity and fumigation. They have been incredible in assisting since the CPAC
meeting and making great progress on planning for their kuleana for FestPAC Festival Director
also thanked the SPC team who has been fully engaged and working with the U.S. Fish andWildlife team. Sala mentioned his meeting today is with Jenny Morrell who sits in the USA
membership seat for the SPC. Morale is the Pacific Regional Unit Chief for the office ofAustralia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs. She is also with the Bureau of East Asianand Pacific Affairs of the USA Department of State. Ms. Morrell was in Hawaii for meetings not
related to FestPAC but requested to have it added to her itinerary and will be having several

Minutes of the Commission on the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 2:00 pmPage 3 of 4

meetings with Festival Director Sala to discuss where we are at with planning and how her officecan support it.
In March, Festival Director Sala met with Erika Moritsugu from the White House and her
number two Georgette Furakawa, both have also been engaged in seeing our success in
producing and executing the festival. Festival Director Sala mentioned he was invited toWashington DC the first week in May to present for seven minutes at the AA and HPI summit on
May 3, 2023. He will also be curating a Melanesian and Micronesian performance andmentioned he would be reaching out to Commissioner deSilva in the coming days to discussplans. This event will have upwards of a thousand attendees including VVIPs and very highlevel leaders. Festival Director Sala concluded by sharing that the next CPAC meeting will beheld at the end of June followed quickly by the Ministers of Culture Meeting on June 28 in New
Caledonia. This will be our final opportunity to report to CPAC and the Culture Ministers about
Festival programming, biosecurity, immigration and etc. Festival Director Sala is working withall parties to create an incredibly detailed presentation for these meetings. After that, CPAC willplan for their own delegations to come to the festival how they plan for the festival delegations.
UPDATE ON RFP FOR FESTIVAL PROVIDER.
Commissioner Lum shared that the RFP evaluations committee met and made its
recommendation to the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT)
Director. The recommendation was approved, and an awardee was selected. The award wasposted awarding Gravitas Pasifika. They are currently in the contracting phase and will beworking together on a contract to be executed. Chair Kaʻanāʻanā asked Commissioner Lum “ifthey cleared the protest period?” Commissioner Lum confirmed that the protest period has beencleared with no protests submitted. Chair Kaʻanāʻanā clarified that Gravitas Pasifika is Aaron
Salā and congratulated him.
PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION REGARDING ADMINISTRATIVECOMMITTEE UPDATE
Commissioner Benham shared that they didn’t meet and that they will start meeting now that
there is a Festival Provider.
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā noted that there were no edits submitted from the Commissioners on theHonorary Chair Description. He suggested if there are no edits or revision to that we adopt andapprove the draft as circulated at the next meeting.
Commissioner Onishi shared that he reviewed the circulated draft and had no concerns or issues.
Commissioner Benham agreed with Commissioner Onishi, but she had a question regarding theprocess and if that should be discussed now or in the Admin Committee. Chair Kaʻanāʻanāsuggested that it be discussed in the Admin Committee and then brought to the full Commission.
Chair noted that Commissioner Bento, Benham, deSilva and Onishi all approved the Honorary
Chair description draft as circulated.
Commissioner Benham shared that they didn’t meet and that they will start meeting now that
there is a Festival Provider.

Minutes of the Commission on the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 2:00 pm
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PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION REGARDING VENUES AND
PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE UPDATE
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā deferred this agenda item as the committee did not meet.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON AGENDA ITEMS
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā invited the public to again offer comments. A member of the public, TrungLam, is with a local group called Thrive HI which is a Community Building Center for theremote and tech workforce here in Hawaiʻi. Lam went on to mention that he and his team havebeen developing an idea to potentially have an expo highlighting Indigenous Heritage andCulture in Video Games and Interactive media. Lam mentioned that he thought this would be agreat opportunity to collaborate during the festival and wanted to know if that was a possibility.
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā responded that he could follow up offline and discuss potential collaboration
ideas. Chair Kaʻanāʻanā asked once again if there was any other public wanting to provide
testimony, hearing none, he continued with the next agenda item.
Commissioner Benham noted that she was not able to ask this question during the Venues
Committee portion and wanted to ask Commissioner Lum “now that we are going through theprocess of getting a Festival Provider, will we be able to move ahead and actually sign MOA’sand all the other types on contracts as soon as that’s in place, so we can get our venues and hotels
set and all that other stuff set? ” Commissioner Lum confirmed that it was correct.
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā asked if there were any other members of the public wanting to offer
testimony. Hearing none he moved on to the next agenda item.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā shared there were no announcements.
NEXT MEETING
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā confirmed that the next meeting will be held on May 8, 2023 at 3 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Chair Kaʻanāʻanā adjourned the meeting at 3:23 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,Kalani Kaʻanāʻanā
ChairMay 22, 2023
Date