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Ige announces slate of nominees

MEDIA RELEASE

Gov. David Ige has announced his nominations to lead the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Labor and Industrial Relations and the Office of Information Management and Technology.

The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Linda Chu Takayama has been tapped to lead the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. She is currently the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. She also maintains a law practice specializing in regulator and governmental affairs, health, insurance, and corporate business law.

She has previously served as deputy director of the State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and she was formerly the Hawaii Insurance Commissioner. As Insurance Commissioner, Takayama regulated the insurance companies that provide coverage and worked closely with DLIR on the programs and policies that affected rates and the financial solvency of the insurers, including changes to the medical fee schedule.

She also served on the Governor’s Subcabinet Task Force on Healthcare Reform to update Hawaii’s unique Prepaid Health Care Act and to assist President Clinton’s early efforts on health care reform.

As Chair of the Hawaii Foodbank for the past 20 years, Takayama has worked with DLIR’s Office of Community Services which administers programs providing services to the needy including the distribution of food.

Takayama received a BA in Journalism from the University of Hawaii. She earned her Juris Doctorate degree from George Mason University School of Law in Virginia.

“Linda has a deep understanding of many of the regulatory matters that are routinely handled by the department,” said Ige. “I am confident that she will support the well-being of our workers and promote good labor-management relations.”

“This is a great opportunity to continue my interest in serving the community, providing food and jobs and justice in the workplace,” said Takayama. “I’ll be looking for that golden balance of fairness and equity between workers and employers in the department’s programs.”

Todd Nacapuy will be the state’s chief information officer and lead the Office of Information Management and Technology. He is currently the senior technical account manager responsible for all Premier Commercial services in Hawaii.

Prior to this he was a senior infrastructure specialist for EDS, where he was responsible for monitoring and optimizing all Web services within the Navy and Marine Corps network for the Pacific. While there, he was responsible for architecture and implementation of a 65,000 user network into the Navy and Marine Corps network.

He has both breadth and depth of experience in application development, infrastructure acquisition, project management, re-engineering/improvement, vendor selection and management, enterprise-wide implementation IT strategy and systems planning, and corporate strategy.

Nacapuy earned a BA in Finance and Accounting from Seattle University and he studied at the Cisco Network Academy (Bellevue Community College) and the Microsoft Career Management Academy (Microsoft Services University).

“Todd has the right mix of technical and business skills to upgrade the state’s technology infrastructure,” said Ige. “Under his leadership the office will continue to identify modernization projects that are in process across the various state agencies. He will immediately focus on a few that have broad or significant impact. My commitment to an enhanced IT system is based in my strong desire to improve public access to government services that will ultimately result in improved public trust in state governance. I extend my appreciation to our Acting Chief Information Officer, Keone Kali, for his commitment during our transition and his ongoing offer of assistance.”

“I’m pleased to be joining Gov. Ige’s team in a role that allows me to use what I know about technology to serve the people of the State of Hawaii,” said Nacapuy. “From planning and vendor selection to implementation and trouble shooting, the department will ensure that the right systems are in place to make government more efficient and effective.”

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Ige announces nominee to lead DLNR, names BOE choices

Gov. David Ige has announced his nomination to lead the Department of Land and Natural Resources and his choices for the Board of Education.

The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Suzanne Case has been chosen to take the helm at the Department of Land and Natural Resources. She is a 28-year veteran of The Nature Conservancy and has served as its executive director since 2001.

She oversees all operations of the Hawaii program including 16 preserves totaling 53,000 acres, working in native forest, coastal and marine conservation, directly and through partnerships on six main Hawaiian Islands. She also oversees the Palmyra Atoll nature preserve and research station in the Pacific.

Case attended Waiakea-Kai Elementary School, Keaukaha Elementary School and Punahou School where she was the first female student body president. She graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in History and received her law degree from Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco.

“Suzanne shares my vision of wise stewardship of Hawaii’s public and conservation lands and waters, for excellence in government to make the most of our limited resources, and for collaboration and inclusion in carrying out the many responsibilities of the DLNR and the State of Hawaii for the benefit of all,” said Ige.

“I am truly humbled at the prospect of serving Hawaii as Chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and honored by the confidence Gov. Ige expresses in me in putting my name forth as his nominee. I look forward to meeting with our senate leadership for their consideration of my confirmation,” said Case.

In announcing his nominations for the Board of Education, Ige noted the leadership and management of Hawaii’s public schools is the responsibility of the Board of Education and the Superintendent, who is appointed by the Board.

He also said he believes teachers, the principal and staff at the school level play critical roles in a great education system, and they must be empowered to lead the education process from the place where learning takes place – the classroom.

Ige announced the following nominations for the Board of Education:

* Lance A. Mizumoto has 25 years of experience with financial institutions in Hawaii. Currently he is the President and Chief Banking Officer of Central Pacific Bank where he oversees the organization-wide strategic direction and management of all lines of business, including commercial banking, commercial real estate, retail banking, residential mortgage, and wealth management. Prior to this he has served in various capacities of increasing responsibility at Central Pacific Bank, First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii and International Savings and Loan. He serves on the Chamber of Commerce Board and is a member of the Board of Regents, Chaminade University.

* Hubert Minn has a rich history of service with the City and County of Honolulu and the state’s education system. Most recently, he was the deputy director at the city’s department of enterprise services where he was responsible for administering and providing overall direction, coordination, management and control of the functions and operations of the department. He was also the deputy director of the department of customer service. Within the department of education, he was a teacher, mentor and senior advisor. Elected to the Hawaii State Board of Education from 1974-1978 and 1978-1980, he served as the chairperson and held many other positions on the board.

* Maggie Cox is a retired teacher and principal with the Hawaii Department of Education and was elected to the state Board of Education for two terms. She was a high school science teacher, and following her days in the classroom, she was a vice principal and principal. She was first elected to the Board of Education in 2004 and served on various committees. She was also the Board member on the management negotiations team dealing with the Hawaii State Teachers Association and Hawaii Government Employees Association. She earned a B.A. from North Texas State University.

“These nominees share my core beliefs and values,” said Ige. “They will be open, collaborative and represent the best values of Hawai‘i in their Aloha for the students, teachers, principals and staff, and for each other. I am confident that under their leadership we will create a public school system of which we can all be truly proud,” he added.

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