Third adviser leaves Abercrombie

Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s communications director is leaving the administration as part of an exodus of young, idealistic advisers who brought passion to his campaign last year.

Josh Levinson, the communications director, told fellow staffers in an email Friday that he is leaving because of the resignations of his friends — chief of staff Amy Asselbaye and deputy chief of staff Andrew Aoki — the desire to spend more time with his wife and children, and an understanding that it was time to let others bring their ideas and expertise to the administration.

"The last 10 months have been a whirlwind," Levinson wrote. "We’ve tried to do things differently, and it hasn’t been easy. I’m proud of how far we’ve come. There have been bumps in the road, but we have put a solid foundation in place."

Donalyn Dela Cruz, a spokeswoman for Abercrombie, said Levinson would remain on the job until the governor finds a replacement.

Levinson, 35, was the field organizer for Abercrombie’s campaign. He was a former chief executive officer at the nonprofit Community Links Hawaii and a former deputy director of a public-advocacy firm in Washington, D.C.

While Asselbaye and Aoki were expected to handle operations and public policy, Levinson was responsible for spreading Abercrombie’s message.

Levinson’s team, which includes Dela Cruz and former newspaper reporter Laurie Au, helped execute some of the governor’s better moments over the past 10 months but often struggled to manage the day-to-day demands of the news media.

Abercrombie’s State of the State address in January and his "A New Day in Hawaii" update in August were well-crafted from a communications standpoint, political analysts say. Levinson’s team also made use of social media and video to reach out to audiences that may not follow traditional media.

But the communications staff appeared unable to identify and quickly contain public relations land mines. In June, for example, the administration responded to media questions about the governor’s request that former Gov. Linda Lingle’s appointees to the Stadium Authority offer courtesy resignations. It was not until a day later, however, that the administration acknowledged that the governor had made similar requests of Lingle appointees at several key boards and commissions, which extended the story for another news cycle and raised questions about transparency.

In September, the administration appeared unprepared to fully respond to questions about the governor’s emergency proclamation to help remove unexploded ordnance, even though the decision to issue the proclamation had been made in June.

Privately, administration officials described the boards and commissions mishap as a "debacle" and acknowledged that they "botched" the emergency proclamation on unexploded ordnance by not making a public announcement when it was first issued.

Both missteps could have been minimized if the administration promptly shared information and adequately explained the policy justification, sources say; instead they provided fuel for Abercrombie critics who claim the governor prefers to operate in secret.

But sources say privately that the unpredictable Abercrombie — and not his relatively inexperienced communications staff — has caused much of the communications damage by straying off message.

Lingle, by comparison, was often criticized as too scripted, but the Republican governor was extremely disciplined and made maximum use of the unique communications platform of the governor’s office to counter majority Democrats in the state Legislature.

Lingle’s policy and communications advisers ran a buttoned-down operation, keeping information within a tight circle of allies, and were diligent about always being available to the news media even when the only answer was a "no comment."

"It was helpful to have a governor that had managed a county, because she understood what it takes to put a good operational team together," said Linda Smith, Lingle’s former senior policy adviser. Lingle was a former Maui County mayor, so she had some chief executive experience.

"Second of all, she started out with a team that included both older people and younger people, because one of the things that she really respects and appreciates is a breadth of perspective," Smith said.

Sources describe a sometimes tense generational divide with Abercrombie’s older allies pitted against Asselbaye, Aoki and other young staffers in the administration.

State House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro (D, Halawa-Aiea) said it was "shocking" that three of the governor’s top advisers are leaving at the same time. He said he would expect a more orderly transition.

"I think that normally we would see something in a bit more progressive manner so that there would be a bit more transition, rather than a sudden exodus," he said. "I think that that is the shocking part and definitely does call whether there is a need for shakeup and what’s going on?"

But Oshiro said he still has confidence in the Abercrombie administration. He said Abercrombie, a former state lawmaker, and his advisers may have lost some of the nuances of how the state Capitol functions during his two decades in Washington, D.C., as a congressman.

Oshiro, 41, said he hopes the resignations do not "call into question the ability of younger people to step up to the plate. I do think that there are many, many opportunities, but more importantly, there is a real need for people of our generation to step up, because our perspective is often getting lost in the shuffle."

Several state officials have resigned from the Abercrombie administration over the past several months, including Sunshine Topping, the former director of the state Department of Human Resources Development, who left citing family reasons, and Neal Palafox, the former director of the state Department of Health, who was asked by the governor to resign for unexplained reasons.

Ed Teixeira, vice director of Civil Defense, resigned this week, citing management differences. Denise Wise resigned in September as executive director of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, citing personal reasons.

Building and maintaining a staff is challenging for many chief executives, and Abercrombie chose key advisers from his successful campaign to fill top policy and communications roles. His new choice for chief of staff, Bruce Coppa — who was the director of the state Department of Accounting and General Services — is an experienced manager in the construction industry who was not part of the governor’s campaign.

"The transition from campaigning to governing is very difficult for executives and staff alike," said David Nixon, associate professor of public administration and public policy and the acting director of the public administration program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Hawaii News Now video: Executive exodus from Gov. Abercrombie’s administration