Hawaii County Mayor-elect Mitch D. Roth announced Thursday a third round of cabinet selections.
Doug Adams, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and current Vice-chairman and Director of W.H. Shipman, Ltd., has been tapped to head the County of Hawaii’s Department of Research and Development. Adams is also an attorney licensed in Hawaii and serves in various leadership capacities for public and nonprofit service organizations.
Selected for deputy director positions were Michele Hiraishi, Steven Hunt, and Merrick Nishimoto.
Hiraishi, who has been selected to serve as the deputy director for the Department of Parks and Recreation, is currently the president and CEO of ARC of Hilo and is a retired U.S. Army captain.
Hunt has been selected to serve as the deputy director of finance. He previously served as the Real Property Tax Manager and, later, as the Director of Finance for the County of Kauai.
Nishimoto will serve as the deputy director of Public Works. Hecurrently serves as a project manager and operations manager for Hualalai Investment, LLC, where he focuses on a myriad of projects, including drinking water, brackish water and wastewater utilities. Prior, he served as the deputy director of the county’s Department of Public Works where he was responsible for DPW’s lava emergency response and recovery efforts during the 2018 eruption.
Executive assistant selections include Barett Otani, Pomaikai Bartolome, Kate Logan and Steven Bader. Cyrus Johnasen has been selected to serve as the public information officer for Hawaii County. Jeannie Marie Miskovich will serve as the executive assistant aide and will be joining him from her current role at the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, where she is a legal assistant.
The cabinet directors face confirmation by the County Council.