Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

(L-R: David Kaʻapu, Michael Kaleikini, and Dennis Neves)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 8, 2021

Hawaiʻi State Senate Confirms Three HHC Commissioners

(Kapolei, Oʻahu) – The Hawaiʻi State Senate confirmed Commissioners David Kaʻapu, Michael Kaleikini, and Dennis Neves to the Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC) on Thursday, April 8, 2021.

Kaʻapu received unanimous consent. Kaleikini was confirmed by a vote of 21-4 and Neves was confirmed by a 24-1 vote.

West Hawaiʻi Commissioner Kaʻapu is a practicing attorney at law in Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi Island with an emphasis on quiet title, business law, wills and trusts, general litigation, and land use.

He graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi with a BA in anthropology (Hawaiian archaeology) and received his JD from Santa Clara University in 1988.

East Hawaiʻi Commissioner Kaleikini has worked in the power generation field for the past 34 years, having spent six years in the United States Navy and 28 as an employee with Puna Geothermal Venture in Pahoa, Hawaiʻi Island. His responsibilities have ranged from plant operations to administration to his current role in business development. 

He resides in Waiakea, Hawaiʻi Island.  He is also active in his community, serving on the East Hawai’i Advisory Council for the American Red Cross, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawai’i, the Hawai’i Island Chamber of Commerce, the Hawai’i Island Economic Development Board, the Hawai’i Leeward Planning Conference, and the Mainstreet Pahoa Association Boards, respectively. 

Kaleikini attended college in California and at Brigham Young University – Hawaiʻi.

Kauaʻi Commissioner Neves currently serves as the second Vice President of the Kalalea Anahola Farmer’s Hui. He brings over 27 years of public service and has an extensive Executive Management background, including a role as executive manager for the San Francisco Airport, reporting to the Director. In 2012, he accepted a position with the State of Hawaiʻi as the Kauai Airports District Manager, which he held until December 2017.

As a native Hawaiian beneficiary residing in Anahola, Kauaʻi, Neves is dedicated and passionate about working towards fulfilling the mission of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole and improving the lives of beneficiaries and those on the waitlist.

To learn more about HHC, visit dhhl.hawaii.gov/hhc.

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About the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921, with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of over 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

Media Contact:
Cedric Duarte
Information and Community Relations Officer
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
(808) 620-9591
[email protected]