James H. Takushi, who headed the state’s personnel and human resources departments under three Hawaii governors and was at one time a key lieutenant in the rise of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, died Monday at his Alewa home, his family said in a news release.
Takushi, 85, was raised in Kalihi and was the youngest of eight children.
In 1969 the late Gov. John A. Burns tapped him to be his personnel director. At 39, Takushi was the youngest member of the Burns Cabinet.
Former Gov. George Ariyoshi called him “a close and dear friend” who was his campaign manager when he first ran for the state Senate, and then later, when he became governor, served in his Cabinet. Ariyoshi described Takushi’s role as pivotal to personnel relations through several decades.
“As the state’s collective bargaining chief negotiator, he played a vital role in helping us to cut the cost of government operations tremendously,” Ariyoshi said in a statement. “He had the ability to produce results that would benefit everyone — not just one side. His loyalty, courage, way with people, and his commitment to our state made a huge impact and impression that lives on to this day.”
Hawaii political historian Tom Coffman, in his 2003 book, “The Island Edge of America,” credited Takushi with persuading Ariyoshi to run for lieutenant governor in 1970.
After serving under both Burns and Ariyoshi, Takushi left government work. But in 1994 then-Gov. Ben Cayetano picked him to be his human resources director, where he started a new Office of Collective Bargaining and became the state’s first chief negotiator.
His knowledge of the state budget, staffing requirements and the needs of both employees and management allowed him to start a state employee training program and later a consolidated state workers’ compensation program that helped save taxpayers money, his family said.
Cayetano said Tuesday that in his progressive administration filled with young faces, Takushi was the old-school guy who helped bring a long-term perspective on issues. “The kind of experience he had, I thought, was very valuable,” Cayetano said, “and he was a very dedicated public servant.”
Raised on Kalihi and River streets where he was exposed to families of all ethnicities, Takushi hung out with a group of friends that called themselves “the River Rats.” He loved music and played saxophone and clarinet for a dance band known as the Pastels. A 1949 graduate of Farrington High School, Takushi attended Los Angeles City College before he returned home to attend the University of Hawaii and worked part time at the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association industrial relations office.
It was there, his family said, “he observed first-hand the delicate balance of human and economic dynamics in union negotiations and management strategies from labor professionals.” In 1954, the same year he helped his family friend Ariyoshi win a seat in the Territorial House of Representatives, he graduated from UH and entered the Army and was stationed in Korea.
