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Director prioritizes
rail transit

Interim transportation chief
Ed Hirata is one of six new
appointees to Hannemann’s
Cabinet

Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann's choice to be the interim city transportation director says it's time to put the wheels in motion to get rail transit up and running.

"We need to get started on the rail project," said Ed Hirata, who headed the state Transportation Department under former Gov. John Waihee and who held several city positions, including transportation and managing director, under former Mayor Frank Fasi.

Hannemann is having difficulty filling the transportation director's slot permanently. Hirata took the job at Hannemann's behest and will stay on for at least six months to give Hannemann time to find the right candidate.

"I just didn't feel we had the person that understood through the years why we've had so many failed attempts at some of the transportation solutions, so I wanted someone with that kind of history," Hannemann said. "I wanted someone who also could deal with the bureaucracy that we have in city transportation services."

Hirata was among six appointments Hannemann announced yesterday. The other nominees are:

» Dr. Elizabeth Char as director of the Department of Emergency Services, which oversees ambulances and life guard services. Char has been an emergency room physician at the Queen's Medical Center and director of the state's Oahu Emergency Medical Services.

» Laverne Toyo Higa Nance as chief engineer of the Department of Facility Maintenance. A civil engineer, she has held several city posts, including her current position as the acting assistant chief of Department of Design and Construction's civil division.

» Debbie Morikawa as the director of the Department of Community Services. She is the former executive director of the Institute for Human Services and Ponds at Punaluu assistant-living community.

» Kenneth Nakamatsu as the director of the Department of Human Resources. Nakamatsu served for the past 17 years as the personnel director for the state Judiciary.

» Sidney A. Quintal as the director of the Department of Enterprise Services, which oversees city golf courses, the Blaisdell Arena complex, the Waikiki Shell and the Honolulu Zoo. Quintal is leaving his job as vice president of sales and marketing at Grace Pacific Corp. He previously owned SUN Industries, which Grace Pacific purchased in 2003.

All six appointments are subject to City Council confirmation.

Hannemann said he will announce the remaining three directors' positions and his managing director on Tuesday.

He said the search for a transportation director could go nationwide as he plans to seek out transportation experts on a planned trip to Washington, D.C., but he still hopes a person could be found locally. In the meantime, he did not want to leave the job vacant while the search continued, he said.

Besides getting the ball rolling on rail, Hirata will also assist Hannemann in implementing short-term traffic solutions such as better synchronization of traffic signals and possibly merging the state and city traffic management centers.



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