The administration of Mayor Maryanne Kusaka announced recently it would finish the final five months of Kusaka’s term without a county engineer. Former County Engineer Cesar Portugal applied for and was given the position of head of the Division of
The administration of Mayor Maryanne Kusaka announced recently it would finish the final five months of Kusaka’s term without a county engineer.
Former County Engineer Cesar Portugal applied for and was given the position of head of the Division of Engineering in the county Department of Public Works, after former division head Ken Kitabayashi retired recently.
Portugal’s current job is a civil-service position, and the county engineer is appointed by the mayor.
Ian Costa, who had been the deputy county engineer under Portugal, is now the acting county engineer.
But, because Costa is not a licensed engineer, anything that requires an engineer’s signature will be signed by Portugal, said Beth Tokioka, county public information officer.
Tokioka and Wallace G. Rezentes, Sr., administrative assistant to Kusaka, said that finding a licensed engineer to serve as county engineer knowing that the appointment could last just until Monday, Dec. 2, when a new administration takes over, was going to be a difficult if not impossible task.
At a recent County Council meeting, Rezentes confirmed that no such search would take place, and that Costa would remain acting county engineer for the duration of Kusaka’s term as mayor.
According to the County Charter, the county engineer shall be appointed by and may be removed by the mayor.
“He shall be a registered engineer and shall have had a minimum of five years of training and experience in an engineering position, at least three years of which shall have been in a responsible administrative capacity,” the charter states.
