Tourism nominee wants best leadership
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i Tourism Authority nominee Mike McCartney told a Senate panel this week he believes that the authority should not select a new executive director until the new board is in place.
The current board, however, has already chosen a search firm to help replace interim executive director Rick Humphreys.
New nominees for the authority began the process of legislative confirmation this week as the authority heads toward its biggest shift in membership since it was founded in 1998.
Seven of the 11 voting authority members' terms expire June 30. McCartney is the first nominee to begin the process of legislative hearings and Senate confirmation that is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
"Everyone's life is somehow connected to (tourism), so it's a huge responsibility," McCartney said before a joint Senate hearing between the Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Water, Land, Energy and Environment committees.
McCartney told Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, D-15th (Kalihi Valley, 'Aiea), that the selection of the new tourism authority executive director should be delayed until the new board begins work. The new board will be held accountable by, and for, the new executive director, he said, and "it would be difficult to have that selection made for them."
In a later interview, however, tourism authority chairman Roy Tokujo said that waiting to install new leadership may not be the most effective way to manage the paid staff.
"(The new board) may need some time to acclimate themselves," Tokujo said, "and we can't wait too long ... because then we'll have a staff problem."
McCartney also said he believed that the executive director's salary should be paid for entirely from authority funds.
McCartney said he believed that $100,000 to $200,000 was an adequate pay range for the position to attract capable applicants. He said he hoped the job would entice someone who "sees it as a mission, sees it as an honor to serve," and whose main concern was not financial.
McCartney suggested the Legislature set a June 30, 2005, "sunset" date for the board, allowing for its automatic termination unless reauthorized by law.
Kim inquired whether McCartney thought the tourism authority's $61 million budget was sufficient and if sweeping governmental budget cuts should affect the authority. McCartney said he thought the budget was adequate, and the possibility of cuts should be examined.
"I know how hard it is to balance the budget on your side of the table," he said.
The state audit of the authority is something to be taken "very seriously," he said. "We need to end the debate about whose money this is and get on (with) the business at hand. The money rightfully belongs to the taxpayers of this state."
McCartney was a state senator for 10 years before becoming director of the Department of Human Resources, a post he held for two years. He has acted as president and chief executive of Hawaii Public Television since last November.
If confirmed by the Senate, McCartney would serve on the tourism board until June 30, 2004.
