By NANCY COOK LAUER
Stephens Media
The Hawaii County charter to the contrary, Mayor Billy Kenoi said Tuesday that his appointee to head the Department of Environmental Management doesn’t need an engineering or related degree to qualify for the position.
Hawaii County voters in 2010 approved a charter amendment that “the director shall have had a minimum of five years of administrative experience in a related field and an engineering degree or a degree in a related field.”
That amendment passed by a vote of 34,209 to 9,787. Voters also passed 27,588 to 16,139 an amendment that would allow the mayor to add duties to the director’s position.
Kenoi last week appointed Bobby Jean Leithead Todd, who headed the Planning Department the past four years, to the DEM position she had held in 2007 and 2008. She now faces confirmation by the County Council.
Kenoi said Tuesday that Leithead Todd’s previous experience at DEM showed she is quite capable of doing the job.
“An engineering degree is important, but if you have knowledge, experience and expertise, that’s certainly comparable experience,” Kenoi said.
South Kona/Ka‘u Councilwoman Brenda Ford, who has twice voted against Leithead Todd’s confirmation as planning director, is likely to vote no again on the new position.
“While there are pros and cons to having an engineer as the director of the Department of Environmental Management, I personally believe it should be an engineer to understand the technical aspects of the position,” Ford said. “I support the charter as it was passed by the voters of Hawaii County.”
A graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law, Leithead Todd was deputy corporation counsel for nine years, from 1987 to 1993 and from 2003 to 2007. She also served as the legislative auditor for the county and as a member of the County Council from 1996 to 2003.
Leithead Todd’s undergraduate degree is in English and she doesn’t have an engineering degree.
But former DEM Director Lono Tyson, who Leithead Todd said worked on getting the engineering degree requirement into the charter, supports her appointment.
“Ms. Leithead Todd’s experience and qualifications, including a law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law, will serve the department well in her return to the position she previously held in 2007 through 2008,” Tyson said in a letter Saturday to Kenoi and two council members.
“I understand that the Department of Environmental Management faces many challenges at this time and it is my opinion that Ms. Leithead Todd is uniquely placed to lead the department through these challenges,” Tyson added.
That was good enough for Leithead Todd. She said a department head relies on the expertise of the individual division heads and other staff engineers, as well as engineering consultants.
“I had the discussion with Lono Tyson, who worked on the charter amendment language,” Leithead Todd said. “If the guy who went in and recommended the actual language in the charter amendment thinks I’m qualified for the job, I think that says a lot.”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
