honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 2:26 p.m., Saturday, June 2, 2007

Lingle appoints 2 to Public Safety positions

Advertiser Staff

Gov. Linda Lingle has appointed two new deputy directors to the Department of Public Safety, putting in place a full senior management team for the department.

Tommy Johnson will become the deputy director of corrections, while David Festerling will serve as deputy director of administration. Last month, the governor named Clayton Frank as interim public safety director. Jim Propotnick remains as deputy director for law enforcement. 

"With the addition of Tommy Johnson and David Festerling, we now have a strong leadership team at the Department of Public Safety that can focus on getting the department on track," Lingle said. "Together, interim director Frank and deputy directors Propotnick, Johnson and Festerling have extensive experience in all facets of the department.  Their individual management skills, expertise and knowledge will complement each other, as they lead the department employees in moving forward."

Johnson currently is the paroles and pardons administrator for the Hawai'i Paroling Authority, a position he has held since 2001. He previously served as a youth corrections officer for the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility and was a correctional service officer for a high security facility in Arizona. Johnson was named the Department of Public Safety's Manager of the Year in 2003 and was nominated for the same honor in 2005.

Johnson also served in various personnel administrative management and supervisory positions for the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i; U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas; the Military Traffic Management Command in Saudi Arabia and Turkey; the U.S. Consulate in Turkey; and the U.S. Army Medical Department at West Point. 

A graduate of Mount St. Mary College in New York, he earned a Bronze Star of Outstanding Service during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Johnson will start his new position on June 12.

Festerling has been serving as acting deputy director of administration since May 7. He started his career as a deputy sheriff for the Judiciary in 1983 and has nearly 24 years of service with the state. Thirteen of these years were spent as a budget analyst for the Department of Public Safety, during which he assisted in formulating, implementing and overseeing the department's budget. He also assisted the department's procurement staff regarding purchasing policies and procedures, and served as project manager for the development and implementation of a new personnel record budget and fiscal tracking and accounting system. Festerling has held other positions in the department, including executive assistant to the interim director, legislative coordinator and investigator for internal affairs.

Festerling also worked for the Department of Taxation as a budget analyst.