Cathy Takase, acting director of the Office of Information Practices, has been abruptly dismissed, just a month after advising that Gov. Abercrombie must disclose the names of nominees for the recent opening on the State Supreme Court.
Today is her last day with OIP. Takase was given only one-day notice of her dismissal, according to a person familiar with the situation at OIP.
Takase had been a staff attorney for OIP before stepping up as acting director following the departure of Paul Tsukiyama in late 2009.
Gov. Abercrombie has so far declined to disclose the names of nominees sent to him by the Judicial Selection Commission for the Supreme Court position. Takase opined that the names must be made public once the selection is made and the new justice is sworn in.
Sabrina McKenna was sworn in as associate justice this week, bringing the issue to a head.
In another potentially controversial move, the administration has reached down into the OIP staff to directly appoint a staff attorney. Linden Joesting, who had previously served in a similar position, was appointed this week. The move is unusual because such staff appointments are typically made by the OIP director.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Looks like Takase was a hold over from the Lingle administration. Was Abercrombie planning to nominate Takase to that post? I don’t know anything about this story, it appears it could be anywhere from a mountain to a mole hill.
Be interesting to see if the OIP position on Governor’s violation of law will change with a new director.
Section 92F-41 provides that the Governor appoints the director but that the office is administratively attached to the Lt. Governor’s office. It also says that the Director shall appoint staff. Why is the GOV micro managing and beyond that, he does not have the legal authority to hire staff, much less the Lt. Gov. Shouldn’t someone be asking Brian Schatz what the hell is going on?
Ms. Takase has always responded quickly to our (Animal Rights Hawai’i) requests for assistance in prying public information from government agencies. I am disappointed that Neil is acting vindictively- I have to say that his behavior since taking office not what I expected.
Joesting is a refugeee from the office of Senator Clayton Hee, Neil’s old buddy. Things didn’t work out for her there — it’s an open question whether the fault lays with him or or her but, given the fact that he has burned thru about half the out-sized staff he was allowed to acquire, I’d lay odds it was mostly him.