For the third straight year, there's a new chief clerk to oversee the staff of the state Senate's powerful money panel, which has been plagued with high staff turnover in recent years. Waihee-era official
will lead key Senate staffNow at the helm of the Ways and Means staff is Barbara Kim Stanton, who was a deputy director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism during Gov. John Waihee's administration.
More recently, she was director of the University of Hawaii's Mililani High Tech Park and vice president of Child and Family Service.
Last year, during crucial House-Senate negotiations over the state budget, the Ways and Means staff threatened to walk out, unhappy with the circumstances under which they had to work with the panel's co-chairs.
Sen. Carol Fukunaga (D, Makiki), remains a Ways and Means co-
chairwoman but now shares leadership of the committee with Sen. Andrew Levin (D, Volcano), her third partner in three years.
MOVING UP: WASHINGTON -- Rep. Neil Abercrombie has moved. The Honolulu Democrat, recently re-elected to a fifth two-year term, has taken advantage of his rising seniority to claim a new office with more space and a loftier view.
The new office, three floors higher in the Longworth House Office Building, has about 200 more square feet of space, including a small meeting room, and a rather impressive view of the Library of Congress.
Abercrombie's new address is 1502 Longworth, Washington, D.C. 20515. His telephone number remains the same: (202) 225-2726.
Abercrombie's neighbor island colleague, Rep. Patsy Mink, a fellow Democrat, is staying put. Mink's address: 2135 Rayburn, Washington, D.C. 20515. Her telephone number: (202) 225-4906.
By Star-Bulletin staff