Administration reviewing late hires by Cayetano

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Linda Lingle's administration is reviewing nearly two dozen hires and appointments made near the end of Gov. Ben Cayetano's term in office last December, including three department heads who transferred to civil service posts in the months before Lingle took office.

Most of the hires involve Cayetano-appointed officials and employees moving into civil service posts, which provided them greater job protection. The review is being overseen by Bob Awana, Lingle chief of staff.

Ten of the people who transferred into civil service jobs, including several executive secretaries of Cayetano department heads, did so via an executive order signed by Cayetano in November and canceled by Lingle shortly after she took office.

The executive order, drawn up by Davis Yogi, then-director of the Department of Human Resources and Cayetano's chief labor negotiator, eased legal restrictions on the movement of appointed employees into civil service posts.

Cayetano signed the order Nov. 13, allowing certain appointed employees to apply for civil service openings before they were advertised publicly, an advantage previously given only to civil servants. Cayetano said the order applied to a relatively small number of state workers and afforded them "equal treatment" in the government hiring process.

As to the investigation, Cayetano said, "I can't but think that Awana has a clue as to how the current civil service system really operates."

Ten other state employees were placed in their jobs through standard "open competition" procedures set down in civil service law, according to information supplied by the Human Resources Department. But according to Awana, all are receiving more than the minimum salary established by civil service schedules.

Heading the investigation is Kathleen Watanabe, Lingle's new director of the state Department of Human Resources. Watanabe had originally been on the list of employees under investigation because she transferred in November to a civil service post, but Awana said a review of Watanabe's transfer was expedited and nothing was found out of the ordinary.

Awana released the names this month after The Advertiser requested them under the state's open-records law. He also included the names of 10 individuals hired at higher-than-minimum pay for civil service posts during the last six months of 2002 that he planned to investigate. Awana provided salary ranges for the employees, as required by state law.

Among those hired at higher-than-minimum pay through standard civil recruitment procedures were:

• Yogi, former human resources director, who transferred Nov. 22 to the civil service post of state airports administrator in the Department of Transportation. His salary range is $65,016 to $93,384 a year.
• Glenn Okimoto, former state comptroller and a former deputy director of transportation, hired Aug. 16 as administrator of the harbors division of the Transportation Department. His salary range is $71,064 to $102,036.
• Neal Miyahira, former state Budget and Finance director, hired June 3 as a division administrator in the department. His pay range is the same as Okimoto's.
• Wayne Terada, a planner in the state Defense Department, hired Oct. 18 as head of the Planning Programming and Budgeting office of the Transportation Department. His salary range is $61,920 to $88,932.

Of the new hires, Yogi's selection for the high-profile and influential airports administrator job is perhaps the most controversial because he had no experience in aviation-related work. Civil service qualifications for the job used to require that applicants have at least three years' experience managing airport operations, but Cayetano ordered that requirement removed in 1997.

That's when Jerry Matsuda, an engineer in the state Defense Department and a political campaigner for Cayetano, was hired as administrator despite having no airport management work experience.

Cayetano said at the time he wanted to attract as broad a field of candidates as possible, including applicants from the Mainland and federal retirees.

Yogi was picked for the airports job after a civil service panel made up of Transportation Department officials rejected other applicants, including two career airport executives, according to state documents and interviews with state personnel.

They were Roy Sakata, Honolulu International Airport's operations officer and acting airports administrator for a year after Matsuda retired in late 2001, and Ben Schlapak, longtime chief planner for the state airports division.

Civil service recruitment ads for the position were first published in May by the Human Resources Department. The application period ran May 5 to June 3, and a list of qualified applicants was sent to the Department of Transportation, according to state records.

A DOT civil service review panel, which included former DOT deputy director Okimoto and then-deputy Jadine Urasaki, interviewed but rejected all the applicants, according to state records.

"We were given instructions by (then-DOT director) Brian Minaai that we needed a person with a business background," Okimoto said.

DOT then asked Human Resources to readvertise the position, stressing business and administrative experience as desirable qualifications. The second application period ran Oct. 27 to Nov. 3.

Yogi was selected for the job Nov. 22 by Minaai. Minaai said he picked Yogi "because of his extensive work experience in managing a state department, being well-versed in government personnel, procurement, budgeting and legislative matters."

Before working for the Cayetano administration, Yogi was vice president of Brewer Environmental Industries for six years. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Hawai'i.

Cayetano said of Yogi's selection to the airports job: "He competed for the job, and was rated first. ... Unlike Jerry Matsuda, Davis is an administrator — which is what the airport needs."

Yogi referred questions from The Advertiser to Rod Haraga, new director of the state Transportation Department.

Haraga said he is "aware of the (Awana) investigation but I don't know where it stands." He also said he has told Yogi "to continue to do the best job he can" as airports administrator pending the outcome of Awana's examination.

Okimoto, who helped select Yogi and whose own move to the harbors division job is also on Awana's investigation list, said he was unaware of the investigation but said he landed his civil service post "through all the proper procedures."

"I have 22 years' experience with the DOT and I was acting administrator of the harbors division for six months," Okimoto said.

All 20 of the new civil service employees on Awana's list must serve six-month probationary terms before full civil service protection is afforded them.

Only one, former Budget and Finance director Miyahira, has completed the probationary period.

Awana said his analysis of the Cayetano personnel transfers is based on information gathered by Diana Kaapu, acting head of the Human Resources Department before Watanabe's appointment this week.

Watanabe said she expects the review to be completed this week and the results forwarded to Awana. Watanabe said she did not believe her former service in the department as a deputy attorney general for the Cayetano administration would create a conflict of interest in helping Awana analyze the propriety of the personnel moves.

The Lingle administration is also looking into another personnel issue unrelated to the Cayetano appointments.

Lynn Wakatsuki, who resigned as commissioner of financial institutions in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, was hired back Dec. 16 in the same department as a "financial institutions specialist."

Hiring Wakatsuki was Lynne Himeda, deputy commissioner of financial institutions under Wakatsuki who became acting commissioner after Wakatsuki resigned.

Himeda referred questions about Wakatsuki's rehiring to Mark Recktenwald, Gov. Lingle's new director of DCCA.

"Her rehiring is being reviewed by the Department of Human Resources, and the results of that review will be reviewed by Bob Awana and me," Recktenwald said.

And Lingle said last week she is reviewing two airport security contracts approved in the waning days of Cayetano's term as governor after The Advertiser brought them to her attorney general's attention.