Title change could be in Gary Heu’s future

LIHU‘E — Gary Heu has served as administrative assistant for three mayors, but that could change soon.

The Charter Review Commission on Monday moved forward a proposal that would change the title of the county’s equivalent of a vice president or lieutenant governor to “managing director” and require that person to have five years administrative experience.

The proposal would bring Kaua‘i into alignment with the state’s other three counties and address some of the concerns raised by proponents of a county manager system of government, but would likely not change the current power structure in any meaningful way.

The amendment is the result of the third of three proposals put forward late last year by the commission’s Committee on County Governance, which at that point had shrunk to a single member — former Commissioner Barbara Bennett — after other members resigned.

“This recommendation is based on the findings that in order to avoid having unqualified people appointed to key positions, the charter should incorporate language that specifies the minimum qualifications for the administrative assistant and department heads” like those already provided for positions such as the county engineer, finance director and county attorney, Bennett’s report states.

Currently, Charter Section 7.07 requires only that the administrative assistant meet the same qualifications as the mayor: Any United States citizen at least 30 years old who has been a “duly qualified resident elector of the county” for at least three years immediately prior to the election is eligible.

The City and County of Honolulu, Maui County and Hawai‘i County all already require their managing director to have five years of experience in an administrative capacity, either in public service or private business.

The proposed language for Kaua‘i, which the county Office of Boards and Commissions confirmed Tuesday was accepted by the Charter Commission and sent to the Office of the County Attorney for review, would do the same.

The amendment would also add a new Charter Section 7.08 defining the managing director a bit further than just “the mayor’s principal aide” description currently given to the administrative assistant.

In addition to being that, the managing director would oversee the functioning of all county departments and would attend meetings of the County Council and its committees upon request and provide information and reports as they may require, the proposed amendment states.

If Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. secures re-election this fall, all of the potential changes to Heu’s title and responsibilities would likely have little impact on Heu or the functions of the county government — at least in the short term.

“I support the amendment. It would provide for updated minimum requirements and a title change from administrative assistant to managing director,” Heu, who served in his current role for Mayors Bryan Baptiste, Bill “Kaipo” Asing and now Carvalho, said in a written statement.

Heu also served as acting mayor after Baptiste passed away in June 2008, before Asing was appointed by his council colleagues to serve as interim mayor and before Carvalho was elected to fill the final two years of Baptiste’s term.

“As a practical matter, I do not see that it would have much, if any, impact on the daily operations of the mayor’s office. For all intents and purposes, I currently function in the role of a managing director,” Heu said.

County manager proponent Glenn Mickens agreed with that final point, calling the proposed change “a thinly veiled attempt to distract attention from a proposal for a county manager system” in testimony prepared for the Charter Review Commission.

“Any action to increase the education and experience requirements for the administrative assistant may be of some benefit, but it will not change the role of the assistant so long as the mayor remains the chief executive officer,” Mickens wrote. “The concept of adorning the administrative assistant with a new title like managing director is essentially meaningless unless the assistant becomes the chief executive officer of the county and the person who appoints the department heads and to whom they report.”