The Water Supply Board has decided ex-officio members can serve as its officers. No county laws prohibit the head of the state Department of Transportation’s highways division or the heads of the Kaua’i County Public Works and Planning departments from
The Water Supply Board has decided ex-officio members can serve as its officers.
No county laws prohibit the head of the state Department of Transportation’s highways division or the heads of the Kaua’i County Public Works and Planning departments from serving in that capacity, deputy county attorney Aric Fujii told the board last week.
The issue came up as the board prepares for the election of new officers.
The four regular members of the boards are chairwoman Carol Suzawa, vice chairman Thomas Tokioka, and Takato Sokei and Edwin Nakano, all appointed by the mayor.
Suzawa, of Lihu’e, is the owner of Hair Mates, a hair salon in Lihu’e; Tokioka, of Kapa’a, is a retired Hawaiian Telephone Co. employee; Sokei, of Kapa’a, is a retired businessman and a dairy farmer; and Nakano, of Lihu’e, is a retired state highway engineer and a part-time employee with Mitsunaga & Associates, an Oahu-based engineering firm with a Kaua’i office.
The ex-officio members are Cesar Portugal, who heads the county’s Public Works Department; Steve Kyono, who heads the state Department of Transportation’s highway division; and Dee Crowell, head of the county Planning Department.
All seven board members have voting powers.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
