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Newcomer to take lead on Maui planning | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper
Posted on: Sunday, December 31, 2006

Newcomer to take lead on Maui planning

Advertiser Staff

WAILUKU, Maui — Mayor-elect Charmaine Tavares has picked a relative newcomer to Maui County to head the Department of Planning.

Tavares said she picked Jeff Hunt to lead the agency that oversees development because of his community planning experience in other tourist destinations.

Hunt has been working as a Maui County planner since June 2005, and previously served as assistant director of community development for the town of Breckenridge, Colo. He also was a senior planner for Vail, Colo., and an associate planner for Hood River County, Ore.

He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and environmental sciences from Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and a master's degree in public administration in local government from the University of Colorado at Denver.

To complement Hunt's Mainland experience, Tavares said, she named longtime county planner Colleen Suyama as deputy planning director.

Suyama has been with the Planning Department for 26 years, including five years as planning program administrator. She holds a bachelor's degree in urban and regional design from the University of Hawai'i's School of Architecture.

Tavares, who defeated incumbent Mayor Alan Arakawa in the November election, takes office Tuesday.

In other appointments by the mayor-elect:

  • Jeffery Eng was nominated as director of the Department of Water Supply. The appointment requires council approval. Eng is general manager of Hawai'i Water Service Co., which manages the Ka'anapali water system. Eric Yamashige was reappointed to his position as deputy water director, a job he has held since July 2005.

  • The top two figures in the Department of Public Works and Environmental Management will remain on the job. Milton Arakawa has been director since last year after serving as deputy director for four years. Michael Miyamoto will continue as deputy director.

  • State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands official Vanessa Medeiros was named director of the Department of Housing and Human Concerns. Lori Tsuhako was named deputy director.

  • Jo-Ann Ridao will serve as housing commissioner. Ridao has been working as managing director of Lokahi Pacific, a nonprofit organization that develops low-income housing.

  • The Department of Parks and Recreation will be headed by Tamara Horcajo, with Zachary Helm as deputy director. Horcajo has been working as chief of recreation and support services for nine years. Helm has served as the department's Moloka'i District supervisor since 1982.
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