LIHUE >> Kauai Mayor-elect Bryan Baptiste says he will begin running "Help Wanted" ads this week for a number of key county positions. Kauai seeks to fill
key positionsThe county engineer and fire
chief are among those jobsBy Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.comAmong the jobs he needs to fill are county attorney, county engineer, director of the Office of Community Assistance and fire chief.
Only two of the people holding those offices -- County Attorney Hartwell Blake and Community Assistance Director Mattie Yoshioka -- have not announced their intention to retire. All other agency directors have announced their plans to retire and said they will not seek to be reappointed by Baptiste.
Several department heads such as the planning director, police chief and chief water engineer are appointed by boards and commissions rather than the mayor.
Baptiste said he will name a committee of five to screen the applicants and present him with three recommendations for each post.
He said he is reserving for himself the recruitment of his personal staff and the mayor's administrative assistant, who is essentially the deputy mayor and would become mayor if the officeholder is incapacitated.
Both Baptiste and the new Kauai Country Council will be inaugurated Dec. 2. Baptiste said he is hoping to fill all those positions ahead of that date so they can begin gearing up for their new jobs.
County of Kauai
