The Honolulu Ethics Commission today announced it has appointed Jan Yamane as its executive director and legal counsel replacing Chuck Totto.

Yamane will begin her term immediately, the commission said, in a press release.

Totto resigned in June amid controversy following a series of skirmishes with city Corporation Counsel Donna Leong and commission members, particularly those appointed by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Totto has stated publicly that Caldwell’s appointees hindered his ability to manage the commission office, to which he had been a longtime appointee. This spring, Totto served a 30-day unpaid suspension for, among other things, allegedly fostering a stressful work environment. When he returned, the seven-member commission instituted a policy requiring its attorneys and investigators to complete daily work time-sheets detailing their tasks in six-minute increments.

Yamane was acting state auditor from the time longtime auditor Marion Higa retired in 2012. Les Kondo was appointed as a permanent replacement effective May 1, 2016.