(BIVN) – Former candidate for Hawaiʻi County Mayor, Wally Lau, and Kim Lee of W.H. Shipman Ltd., have been named to serve on the Kahu Kū Mauna advisory board.

“I drafted a rubric system for scoring and evaluating the nominees,” said Kālepa Baybayan, a current Kahu Kū Mauna member, during an April 2 meeting in which the Maunakea Management Board voted to approve the new members. “It was done on a point basis and the two nominees that we are recommending scored the highest.”

According to the Office of Maunakea Management website:

Kahu Kū Mauna (Guardians of the Mountain) is a volunteer community-based council whose members are from the native Hawaiian community. Kahu Kū Mauna advises the Mauna Kea Management Board, OMKM, and the UH Hilo Chancellor on Hawaiian cultural matters affecting the UH Management Areas. They review proposed projects and give their input to the Mauna Kea Management Board. A member of Kahu Kū Mauna participates in the discussions of the Mauna Kea Management Board during their public meetings.

During his bid for mayor in 2016, Lau took a supportive position towards astronomy on the mountain, including the Thirty Meter Telescope project.

“Through our work with Envision Maunakea, and the time we spent with Wally, this is a real gem,” said Doug Simons, MKMB member and Executive Director of the Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope. “That’s why I personally, very strongly endorse Wally’s involvement Kahu Kū Mauna. It’s a great addition to the team.”