Kathleen Aoki today was appointed Maui County's deputy director of planning.

A Hilo native and University of Hawai'i graduate, Aoki has worked in Maui's Department of Planning since 2002 and was named its 2008 employee of the year. She has been the lead planner and project manager for a number of long-range projects and has been involved with the update of the General Plan.

"Kathleen's extensive knowledge of the county's capital improvement programs, her experience in analyzing data and her success in working collaboratively with the different sectors involved in planning large-scale projects will be valuable to the department," Mayor Charmaine Tavares said in announcing Aoki's appointment.