Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has announced that Scott Humber, former news director for Hawaii News Now, will serve as his new communications director.

Humber began his new role with the City and County of Honolulu on Monday.

At HNN, Humber, a three-time National Edward R. Murrow award winner, managed a staff of 72 in the production of more than 50 hours of news per week on air and online, the city said in a news release. Prior to becoming news director, he served as assistant news director and executive producer of the station’s “Sunrise” morning show.

“Scott Humber is a well-seasoned and highly respected news executive and journalist both locally and nationally,” said Blangiardi, formerly HNN’s general manager, in a news release. “He is also an exceptional leader who knows and understands Hawaii, and the many challenging issues we face at every level of government, and in our communities. Scott contributed to building and creating a modern 21st-century newsroom at Hawaii News Now that brought an unprecedented level of high quality news and information online and on-air to the people living in Hawaii and globally. We are very excited to have Scott bring his knowledge and many talents to our Administration.”

Humber earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and public relations from Salem State University.

He replaces former communications director Tim Sakahara, who departed Feb. 25 to take a position at Central Pacific Bank.