Two state agencies are getting new leaders in response to resignations.
Gov. David Ige announced Wednesday that he is promoting two administrators at the state Department of Accounting and General Services following the recent resignation and departure of the agency’s leader, Curt Otaguro.
Ige also announced Thursday the appointment of a new member of the Public Utilities Commission to replace Jennifer “Jennie” Potter, who is resigning from the position effective Oct. 31 ahead of a June 30, 2024, end to her term.
Otaguro, who led DAGS as comptroller, is being replaced by agency Deputy Director Audrey Hidano. Taking Hidano’s place as deputy will be Meoh-Leng Silliman, the agency’s business management officer. Both appointments are effective today. However, terms for both jobs end Dec. 5, when a new governor takes office. The two appointments also are subject to state Senate confirmation.
Potter, one of three PUC commissioners, is being replaced by Colin Yost, an attorney and chief operating officer of local solar energy company RevoluSun. Yost’s appointment is effective Nov. 1 and also is subject to Senate confirmation to serve the rest of Potter’s term.
Ige, who is about six weeks from the end of his second and final four-year term as Hawaii’s chief executive, in a statement expressed thanks to Otaguro and Potter for their service while praising the experience and abilities of Hidano, Silliman and Yost.
DAGS had been trying to produce a development agreement with private developers to replace Aloha Stadium and surround a new facility with a mix of residential and commercial uses until Ige directed the agency in September to cease its work, which has cost around $25 million to date, in favor of soliciting design-build bids for a new stadium.
Otaguro quit to take a deputy superintendent position at the state Department of Education.
The PUC also has had some tumultuous work in recent years, denying approval of a 99% complete bioenergy power plant on Hawaii island that has involved costly litigation, and trying to facilitate quicker development of solar energy farms to replace power plants run on fossil fuels.
