Kenoi shuffles cabinet

HILO —Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd is returning to her old job as head of the county Department of Environmental Management in a reshuffling of Mayor Billy Kenoi’s Cabinet announced late Thursday.

Taking over as planning director is Duane Kanuha, a former state Land Use Commission chairman and a former county planning director.

The new appointments go into effect Monday. Both Leithead Todd and Kanuha must be confirmed by the County Council.

At least one councilor reached Thursday had no problem with the new lineup.

“I totally support the mayor and trust him to make the best decisions for his administration,” said Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi.

Kenoi said the reshuffling wasn’t inspired by several recent court rulings critical of the Planning Department and Leithead Todd. Instead, he said, he wanted to put an experienced leader at the helm of DEM, a county agency that faces big decisions ahead on major projects such as a waste-to-energy incinerator or other waste reduction technology.

“Based on her past experience, she’s the best for the job,” Kenoi said. “The clock is ticking to get waste reduction technology in place. We have a little less than four years. That’s why the move is so important.”

This will be the fourth department head in as many years for the beleaguered department, which handles garbage, recycling, green waste and sewage. Acting Director Dora Beck, who has overseen the department for more than a year, is returning to chief of the wastewater division of the department.

“I look forward to reopening an old chapter,” Leithead Todd said. “It is a great group of people to work with. I enjoyed working with Planning, but I also enjoyed the time I was at DEM. Variety is the spice of life.”

Leithead Todd previously served as DEM director in 2007 and 2008. A graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law, Leithead Todd was deputy corporation counsel for nine years, from 1987 to 1993 and from 2003 to 2007. She also served as the legislative auditor for the county and as a member of the County Council from 1996 to 2003.

Kanuha served as the county’s deputy planning director from 1976 to 1984, and was planning director from 1988 to 1990 during the administration of the late Mayor Bernard Akana. He was Hawaii Island commissioner on the state Land Use Commission from 2005 to 2011, and was chairman of the commission from 2008 to 2009. In 2007, Kanuha was appointed executive vice president of Kohala Investment Works LLC, a subsidiary of Surety Kohala Corp.

Bobby Command, one of Kenoi’s executive assistants and a former West Hawaii Today reporter, was named deputy planning director. Former Deputy Director Margaret Masunaga, an attorney, is moving to the Office of Corporation Counsel. Former Hawaii Community Foundation officer Clarysse Kami Numokawa will fill Command’s old post.

Nunokawa is currently a planner in the county Office of Aging, and previously served as grant manager and compliance coordinator for the $2 million Strategic Prevention Framework-State Incentive Grant to prevent underage drinking. She also served as a program officer for the Hawaii Community Foundation, and as a planner and program specialist for the state Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities.

In addition to promoting former Deputy Research and Development Director Laverne Omori to director, Kenoi reached into the private sector to pull bank manager Donn Mender to the deputy director position for that department. Mende is currently Hilo branch manager of Hawaii National Bank.

A graduate of Waiakea High School, he previously worked in trust and investment banking in Honolulu before returning to Hilo to take a position with American Savings Bank in 2006.

“We are excited to be making these changes to better serve our community,” Kenoi said in a statement. “These appointments add new energy and expertise to our departments and staff, and I want to thank each of our appointees for their commitment to our community.”