In his second four-year term, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi requests the permanent appointment of his new executive Cabinet.
Those being tapped for the city and county’s key leadership roles are positions many have maintained since Blangiardi first assumed the city’s top elective office on Jan. 2, 2021.
On Monday, Honolulu City Council Chair Tommy Waters introduced multiple
resolutions toward the
potential confirmation of those individual members.
The Council is expected to start the confirmation process later this month.
Among the appointees are city Managing Director Mike Formby, city Budget and Fiscal Services Director Andy Kawano, city Community Services Director Anton Krucky and Corporation Counsel Dana Viola.
Other mayoral picks:
>> Kimberly Hashiro,
director of the Department of Customer Services
>> Dominic Haku Milles, director of the Department of Design and Construction
>> James Ireland, M.D.,
director of the Department of Emergency Services
>> Dita Simeona, director of the Department of Enterprise Services
>> Roger Babcock,
director of the Department of Environmental Services
>> Gene Albano, director of the Department of Facility Maintenance
>> Nola Miyasaki, director of the Department of Human Resources
>> Brian McKee, director of the Department of Information Technology
>> Catherine Taschner,
director of the Department of Land Management
>> Masahiko Kobayashi, M.D., medical examiner
>> Laura Thielen, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation
>> Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting
>> J. Roger Morton, director of the Department of Transportation Services
>> Clarke Bright, bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band
>> Lloyd Yonenaka, executive secretary of the Neighborhood Commission
In accordance with the City Charter, the mayor’s appointees serve in a “temporary commission” status until the Council confirms and permanently appoints them.
Meantime, most of Blangiardi’s appointee directors — as well as their deputy directors — took their oaths of office Thursday during the mayor’s inaugural ceremony at Mission
Memorial Auditorium.
“The individuals who have accepted my call to serve in city government are all experienced, capable, and dedicated leaders, and I would deeply appreciate your confirmation of their appointments,” Blangiardi wrote to the Council. “We acknowledge that the directors will be considered ‘designates’ until such time as they are confirmed by the Council.”
The mayor’s Cabinet appointees do not include those leading Honolulu’s
Police and Fire departments.
The city’s police and fire commissions, respectively, hire the city’s top law enforcement officer and its lead firefighter — currently, Police Chief Arthur “Joe”
Logan and Fire Chief Sheldon Kalani Hao.
Likewise, the new city Ocean Safety Department
is now overseen by acting Director Kurt Lager. But
following a voter-approved charter amendment in the Nov. 5 general election, a yet-to-be formed Ocean Safety Commission is expected to hire its next head lifeguard.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors has the power to recruit, hire and evaluate its top executive — currently, HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina — to lead the city’s nearly $10 billion rail construction project.
Honolulu Prosecuting
Attorney Steven Alm, an elected official, is not deemed a member of the mayor’s Cabinet.
Ian Scheuring, Blangiardi’s deputy communications
director, said the city’s department heads are “commissioned to serve — kind of like officers in the military — in their positions until confirmed by the Council.”
“The process to name or confirm the mayor’s Cabinet, including the timeline,
is determined by the City Council,” he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “There is no date by which the Cabinet must be formed.”
Scheuring noted the only director who was not previously confirmed by the Council during the mayor’s first term is incoming DIT
Director McKee.
“We announced in November that we had hired Brian to replace outgoing director Mark Wong, who retired at the end of the year,” he said. “We announced Mark’s departure months in advance, when we publicized our search for a new DIT director.”
In a statement, the Council said confirmation of the mayor’s Cabinet “is not merely a procedural requirement; it is a critical step to ensure that our city’s leaders genuinely
embody the values and
priorities of Honolulu’s
residents.”
“According to the Revised Honolulu City Charter, all nominees must participate in a public hearing before their confirmation is referred to a committee and ultimately approved through a resolution at a full Council hearing,” the statement reads.
The confirmation process will begin at the full Council meeting scheduled for Jan. 29.
