Former TV anchorwomen Jodi Leong and Yasmin Dar have been appointed to Gov. David Ige’s communications team and will help craft the way the governor’s messages get out to Hawaii residents.
The appointments were among a slew announced for various departments Tuesday afternoon.
Leong has been named deputy director of communications and press secretary to Ige and will assist Communications Director Cindy McMillan.
"Gov. Ige has assembled a diverse and talented team, and I am honored and privileged to join his administration," Leong told TheBuzz. "The governor’s open approach and commitment to transparent communication is exciting, and I look forward to working with him, his administration and the media."
Leong has been director of communications for the University of Hawaii system since 2012, and in her previous career spent 21 years at KITV and KHNL in various newsroom jobs starting as a producer and working her way up to reporter and anchorwoman.
Along the way, she helped KITV inaugurate its weekend morning newscast in 2010. An earlier version of this column gave the wrong year.
Leong, a graduate of James B. Castle High School in Kaneohe, starts in the Governor’s Office on April 1.
Dar, named digital media specialist, recently moved back to Hawaii after spending two and a half years in TV news in Eugene, Ore.
Before getting the mainland gig, she worked at KITV as traffic anchor and social media reporter, and, to give equal alma mater time, is an Aiea High School graduate.
"Yasmin will be designing, developing and deploying a two-way environment online, connecting the governor with the people of Hawaii," according to the news release from the Governor’s Office.
Wait, what?
"One of the things we’re trying to develop here for the governor is to expand his voice through digital media," Dar told TheBuzz.
"Right now he’s building his team and building up his presence on the air and online, and basically, I was brought on board to help build that digital team," she said, adding that she is enthusiastic about working with the communications staff and the governor’s staff to inform everyone of the latest on what’s going on with him, but also to build a channel through which people can communicate with the governor.
For old-timers it’s sort of going to be a contemporary version of the late Mayor Frank Fasi’s Office of Information and Complaint. "We want to hear (the public’s) concerns and comments, and of course within reason, we are hoping to get back to them," Dar said.
Dar started in the position Monday.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
