HONOLULU— Gov. David Ige introduced a new director of the state Department of Taxation following the resignation of Maria Zielinski.
HONOLULU— Gov. David Ige introduced a new director of the state Department of Taxation following the resignation of Maria Zielinski.
Ige named Linda Chu Takayama the new director on Wednesday, one day after Zielinski announced her resignation, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported .
Takayama is a lawyer who serves as Ige’s director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. She previously served as the state’s insurance commissioner.
Zielinski resigned in wake of a report that revealed state tax officials instructed a supposedly independent consultant on which subjects it should address in its monitoring reports on the progress of a new $60 million tax computer system.
The tax department also requested changes in the reports by consultant AdvanTech LLC before they were made public, which the consultant said is “not the norm” in its experience.
AdvanTech is an “independent verification and validation” consultant that was hired under a $1.43 million contract to help the state implement the Tax System Modernization project.
Zielinski said on Saturday that she couldn’t comment on the contents of the report.
Ford Fuchigami, administrative director for the governor’s office, said Zielinski informed him Monday that she was resigning. He declined to say if she was asked to resign, adding that he cannot discuss a personnel matter.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
