Tourism authority gets ready for search

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority expects to have a new chief executive officer in place by May and in the meantime will appoint an interim, possibly by tomorrow, said authority chairman Roy Tokujo.

Robert Fishman, Hawai'i Tourism Authority CEO, is leaving his job to report for military duty

Fishman, who will be assigned to the office of the Army Reserve chief, said he has orders for three months. But because of uncertainty about how long his duty might actually last, Fishman and the authority agreed to terminate his contract, effective also on Monday, so the board can be free to hire someone else. Fishman's contract was to expire in March 2002.

According to the parting agreement with the authority, Fishman will receive four months' pay, said Tokujo and others. Fishman's annual income under the terms of the contract is $175,000, according to authority chief administrative officer Lloyd Unebasami.

Tokujo said the contract requires the authority to pay the chief executive for three months work if he gives voluntary notice, and to pay him for the remainder of the contract if the authority terminates him.

"This is a time of crisis for the country, so we wish him well," Tokujo said.

The board voted yesterday to begin setting criteria and parameters of the CEO search process immediately. Tokujo said he expects a new chief to be in place in three to six months.

Local tourism executives said they were not concerned about the lag time in selecting a permanent chief executive.

"Obviously, the sooner they can have somebody on board the better, but they also need to do a thorough, thoughtful search process," said Murray Towill, president of the Hawai'i Hotel Association. "But because you have the authority in place, and you have people on the authority who have been going through these issues throughout the last few years and certainly the last few months, they will see them through the hiatus."

The authority is expected to insist the next chief executive work as an employee of the board, rather than as an independent contractor, as Fishman was.

"You have a lot more direct control over your employee," Tokujo said.

He hinted that a member of the board could serve as the interim chief. The post will be full time for anyone appointed, however, he said. About "a half-dozen names" have come up as interim possibilities, he said.

"We're being very careful about who we select because this is a very crucial time," he said.

Michele Kayal can be reached at mkayal@honoluluadvertiser.com