BY NANCY COOK LAUER WEST HAWAII TODAY ADVERTISING ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com HILO — Hawaii Tribune-Herald reporter Jason Armstrong on Thursday assumed a newly created position in county government. Armstrong, 44, will write grants, coordinate social media and serve as public information officer
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — Hawaii Tribune-Herald reporter Jason Armstrong on Thursday assumed a newly created position in county government.
Armstrong, 44, will write grants, coordinate social media and serve as public information officer for the Parks and Recreation Department, said Director Bob Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald said he’s known Armstrong for many years, from when Fitzgerald was a coach and Armstrong a sports writer.
The position pays between $4,276 and $6,330 monthly, Fitzgerald said, adding that Armstrong “wasn’t hired at the bottom and he wasn’t hired at the top” of the range. Armstrong has a one-year contract.
Fitzgerald said the new position was greatly needed to help inform the public about the many programs and activities available in Parks and Recreation and also to deal with complaints.
The new position is justified, even in a tight economy, Fitzgerald said, because he’s cut two district supervisor positions and trimmed the Parks and Rec annual budget from $30 million to $21 million since he took over in 2008.
Mayor Billy Kenoi, when asked if the new position was his idea or came from the department, said the position is needed and that, while his team of department heads work in a collaborative manner, ultimately it’s his call as the county’s chief executive.
Fitzgerald said the grant-writing experience Armstrong brings to the post is much-needed, as is his social media expertise.
“I see this as a new direction that Parks and Rec needs to have,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s a lot of money out there that we just need to go after.”
Fitzgerald said Armstrong told him he has these skills, so Fitzgerald assumes he won’t need training in them. A search Thursday of Facebook and Twitter found no Hawaii accounts for “Jason Armstrong.”
Armstrong has worked as a reporter at the Tribune-Herald for 14 years and as a reporter for the sister publication West Hawaii Today for eight years before that.
Armstrong couldn’t be reached Thursday for comment. Calls to him went directly to Department of Human Resources Specialist Mark Kunzer, who said department policy is employees need clearance from the director or deputy director before speaking with the media, and both were unavailable Thursday afternoon.
The Tribune-Herald’s vacancy is advertised on journalismjobs.com.
