3 department chiefs among Ige’s 7 new Cabinet appointees

Gov. David Ige wrapped up 2014 on Wednesday by naming three more department directors, including Col. Arthur "Joe" Logan, director of operations for the Hawaii Army National Guard, as state adjutant general and Nolan Espinda, warden at Halawa Correctional Facility, as director of public safety.

Carty Chang, chief engineer for the Department of Land and Natural Resources engineering division since 2009, was named the department’s acting director, Ige’s office said in a news release.

Ige’s slow, meticulous process of naming a Cabinet is in distinct contrast to his predecessor, former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who named many of his appointees in short order after winning election in 2010.

"The governor has indicated that he is going to be a different kind of governor and have different kinds of analyses, so that’s going to require not the usual suspects in terms of his Cabinet," John Hart, chairman of the communications department at Hawaii Pacific University, said. "Although I can see cause for concern about ‘Let’s get things done,’ it is probably indicative that we’ll be seeing some faces that we wouldn’t normally expect to see."

As adjutant general, Logan is the state’s director of defense. Prior to his assignment with the Army National Guard, Logan held positions as chief of joint staff of the Hawaii National Guard and chief of staff of the Army National Guard.

Logan will take over the job from two-star Maj. Gen. Darryll D.M. Wong.

It’s been at least 50 years since a colonel was tapped to be state adjutant general of Hawaii, said Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, a Hawaii National Guard spokesman.

Logan is in the pipeline to become a one-star brigadier general, Anthony said.

The state adjutant job is a two-star position, but Logan can’t leapfrog to that rank, Anthony said.

"Initially, as the state adjutant general, he would be able to pin on the brigadier general rank as soon as possible," Anthony said.

In the future, subject to federal regulations, Logan could become a two-star, he said.

Wong, who assumed the state adjutant position on Jan. 9, 2011, already was a two-star general who was in charge of the Hawaii Air National Guard.

Espinda has served as warden at Halawa Correctional since 2009, and has been employed by the department since 1983 in various correctional facility positions.

All Cabinet appointees are subject to Senate confirmation.

Other administration posts announced Wednesday included:

» Col. Kenneth Hara, chief of the joint staff for the Hawaii National Guard, as deputy adjutant general.

» Jade Butay, deputy director for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, as deputy director at the Department of Transportation, a position he held from 2011 to 2013.

» Randy Baldemor, previously the director of strategic initiatives for the Office of the Governor, as deputy director of human resource development.

» Roderick K. Becker, previously the budget chief for the state Senate, as deputy director of budget and finance.

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Star-Advertiser reporter William Cole contributed to this report.