Ex-administrator remains on payroll in preservation division

The former head of the state’s embattled State Historic Preservation Division has worked on projects there as a state employee since stepping down from her leadership post last month, officials say.

Pua Aiu resigned July 2 as the division administrator days after National Park Service officials reported that "serious problems" remain at the division. As a "high risk grantee," the division could lose its federal funding if those problems aren’t fixed within a year.

The division has had the high-risk designation since 2010. Aiu led the division — part of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources — for five years.

Ever since her resignation, Aiu has continued to work at DLNR as a special assistant to Land Board Chairman William Aila, state officials now say. She remains involved in the review of the Honolulu rail transit project’s archaeological inventory survey, a process the state expects to wrap up soon, among other tasks.

"Dr. Aiu did an excellent job as the SHPD administrator, as the chair noted when interviewed about her resignation," DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward said in a statement Wednesday. "We felt it was important to retain her knowledge and skills, and critical to have her institutional memory for rail and other projects."

Aiu earns between $70,000 and $90,000 out of the preservation division’s budget, although the funding will eventually be switched to the Land Division Special Fund, Ward said.

The division is charged with reviewing proposed developments to help protect culturally and historically important sites. It also works to preserve such sites on behalf of the public.

When her resignation was announced, Aila said Aiu was doing "an excellent job." A recent National Park Service report, however, was critical of her performance. It found the division suffers from operational deficiencies and low employee morale.

"The administrator has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of understanding of the office budget, basic personnel hiring procedures — which has repeatedly been an obstacle to filling the (federal corrective action plan)-identified positions — and staff accountability," the report said.

Aiu, through Ward, declined this week to comment on the criticism by federal officials and her ongoing DLNR employment. In July, the department appointed former Bureau of Conveyances Registrar Nicki Ann Thompson the acting administrator for the division.

Recruitment for the full-time position closes today, and an interview team will then review the applicants, Ward said. The team expects to send recommendations for a replacement to Gov. Neil Abercrombie by Sept. 30.

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Star-Advertiser staff writer Rob Perez contributed to this report.