Gertz Joins Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center Board

Writer and performer Jeri Gertz was elected as the newest board member of the non-profit Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center.

Ku‘ikahi Executive Director Julie Mitchell said Gertz, who owns and operates Hilo’s only singing telegram service, Singin’ In The Rain, recommended the Mediation Center as the beneficiary for two peace concerts last November.

“Jeri brings a lot to the table as a board member (and) can help us substantially expand our reach into the community,” Mitchell said.”

Gertz also is co-director of Harmony On Tap, a women’s chorus that performs benefit concerts for local charities and social service agencies, a member of American Association of University Women, and a volunteer for the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai‘i.

Sandra Song, an attorney, arbitrator and orchid enthusiast, was reelected for a second three-year term on the Board.

Board officers elected were per diem judge Andrew Wilson, president; land-use planner Jeff Melrose, vice president; attorney Bruce Larson, secretary; and retired Hawai`i Electric Light human resources administrator Norman Kawabata, treasurer.

Directors include Aaron Brown, CFO and Project Manager for Sig Zane Designs; Nancy Cabral, owner/manager of Day-Lum Rentals & Management and Coldwell Banker Day-Lum Properties; attorney Lea Cooper, Legal Assistant at The Law Offices of Robert Marx; attorney Cody Frenz, founding partner of the law firm Laubach & Frenz; John Petrella, owner of Local Hawai’i Real Estate; and Romy Saquing, owner of a consumer-direct product and distribution business.

Mitchell said Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center empowers people to come together, to talk and to listen, to explore options and find ways to resolve interpersonal conflicts and community issues through mediation, facilitation, and training.

Call Ku‘ikahi at 935-7844 or visit the web site.