Longtime Lingle ally spearheads transition
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Travis Thompson had taken early retirement from the Boeing Co. and moved permanently to Wailea only a few months before he picked up a newspaper and read about how Linda Lingle was seeking people who could help her formulate a new administration for Maui County.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Twelve years later, Thompson is again helping Lingle organize a new government, this time as chairman of the transition team that is advising the governor-elect on choosing appointees for a state administration. To date, the committee has received more than 1,100 applications for Cabinet posts and is continuing to receive résumés at a steady clip.
When Travis Thompson first met Linda Lingle, he didn't have any government experience. Today, Thompson is helping Gov.-elect Lingle organize her administration.
Back in November 1990, Thompson had met Lingle just once and never worked in government before. Still, he said, he put in an application.
"It was a challenge ... she was a very exciting person to talk to, and I had experience I thought would be helpful to the county of Maui, and it was fun," he said.
Several months later, he began an eight-year career as Maui's finance director overseeing a $200 million annual operating budget.
Thompson, in essence, is the quintessential pitchman for attracting applicants for a job under Lingle. "I would say she is one of the best managers I've ever worked for. You became better than you were. ... It's very inspirational; she's a great communicator."
Age: 67 Position: Chairman, Lingle transition team Salary: Volunteer Previous jobs: Maui finance director, Boeing Co. executive Family: Wife Ali; a son in Texas and a daughter in Massachusetts, two grandchildren Born and raised in: Woodbury, N.J. Education: B.S. in commerce from University of Virginia, M.B.A. from University of Washington Hobbies: Golfing, walking on the beach, playing the mandolin Community: Big Brothers, Big Sisters, chairman elect; National committeeman, Republican Party of Hawaii
As a result, he said, "you know where you stand, you know what you're supposed to do be doing, and she expects you to do it."
Travis Thompson
He is heartened by the large number of applications streaming in, which has now "dropped" to 40 to 50 a day. "That's 50 people who are saying, 'I have seen something that I feel I can help with in this new beginning, with this new administration,' " he said, unconsciously echoing the familiar Lingle slogan. "And they're not just trying to get a job. You can just feel that. They're saying, 'Here's something I can really help with and make a difference.' "
The process has been "intense yet fun," Thompson said, working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, including weekends. He has been living out of an O'ahu hotel room since the days after the election and, itching to get back to Maui, he jokingly told reporters that he found Honolulu "boring."
Thompson was not entirely a stranger to government when he hooked up with Lingle in 1990. Growing up in southern New Jersey, Thompson's father was mayor of East Greenwich Township, a community of about 500 people. But despite that lineage, Thompson said he does not aspire to attaining political office.
He is a card-carrying Republican, he said, because "I basically believe that decision-making should be at a level as close to the people as possible." The GOP does a better job working toward that, he said. He was elected national committeeman for the Republican Party of Hawai'i in 2000 and retains that post today.
Thompson spent 28 years at Boeing as a senior program manager for the commercial airplane division where he was in charge of delivering 747s and 767s. With two grown children who were gone from the nest, he and wife Ali decided to take early retirement and live in Hawai'i. Ali Thompson's grandparents were from Hawai'i and she often spent time here as a youth, her husband said.
Ali Thompson is the leader of the musical band The Plunkers, started by the late Ida Plunkett. Travis Thompson said he is allowed to sit-in and play his mandolin with the pure Hawaiian music band "but only about four times a year."
Reach Gordon Pang at 525-8070 or gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
