Members of the Native Hawaiian community, including a former chairman of the Hawaii Tourism Authority board, questioned Thursday the abrupt firing of HTA’s director of cultural affairs earlier this month.
Keli’i Wilson, a Native Hawaiian who built HTA’s cultural program, was dismissed Jan. 8 via a hand-delivered letter just shy of her 10th anniversary. Wilson is the seventh departure at HTA since HTA President and CEO George Szigeti assumed leadership of the agency in May. Five positions, including the organization’s top two marketing jobs , were eliminated and restructured as part of a reorganization to address a $1.3 million administrative cap that Szigeti inherited from his predecessors. Late last year another brand manager resigned abruptly.
Aaron J. Sala, who resigned as HTA board chairman shortly after Szigeti’s arrival, criticized Wilson’s dismissal. Sala said Wilson brought cultural credibility to HTA since she and her family are renowned for revitalizing the Hawaiian language and bringing it back from the verge of extinction.
“One of the major architects of Hawaii’s visitor industry has been dismissed in such a manner that is indicative of a severe lack of integrity on the part of the authority’s executive management,” Sala said.
Vicky Holt Takamine, a Native Hawaiian advocate, said Wilson built HTA’s Hawaiian program from a $50,000 afterthought to a $10 million endeavor, strengthening the relationship between the authority and a critical community.
“Whoever replaces Keli’i Wilson will have very big shoes to fill and will have to start all over, gaining the respect and trust of the people Keli’i represented — her people,” Takamine said.
Szigeti said Wilson’s dismissal was a personnel issue unrelated to the agency’s earlier reorganization effort.
“We are actively recruiting for a new brand manager to serve as our director of cultural affairs,” he said. “We’ll hire Bishop &Co. to oversee the effort. We have a strong, strong record of supporting Hawaiian culture, and filling this position will be a high priority.”
Wilson said she was blindsided by the dismissal but had been disappointed in the recent change in direction by HTA’s new executive team.
“Fundamentally, we don’t share the same values for the cultural initiative. I hope that the HTA board will help to guide the agency back to the right place,” she said. “There are many platforms to do meaningful work, and I will definitely continue in my efforts to contribute to Hawaii.”
