State Rep. Blake Oshiro will join the Abercrombie administration as deputy chief of staff, giving up the legislative seat he has held for 11 years.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced Oshiro’s appointment Monday.
"When the opportunity came to think about who could team up with Brian, myself and Bruce as deputy, believe me, Blake’s name came right to the forefront," Abercrombie said at a news conference, referring to Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz and Chief of Staff Bruce Coppa.
The appointment of Oshiro, a Democrat from Aiea, continues the rebuilding process for the Abercrombie administration, which was hit with the resignations of four top advisers in a four-day period last month.
Coppa and Oshiro are the new chief of staff and deputy, respectively. Jim Boersema is the new communications director. No new deputy communications director has been named.
Oshiro replaces Andrew Aoki, who resigned as deputy chief of staff Oct. 6 along with Chief of Staff Amy Asselbaye. Communications Director Josh Levinson and his deputy, Laurie Au, also submitted their resignations in the days that followed.
Oshiro (D, Aiea-Halawa Valley-Halawa Heights-Aiea Heights), who serves as House majority leader, will step down on Dec. 7. He will also resign from his job as an attorney with Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing after he closes a few remaining cases. Abercrombie is expected to appoint a new representative for the House seat within 60 days of Oshiro’s resignation.
Oshiro said he was apprehensive at first when he was offered the deputy chief of staff position.
"It took a lot of soul-searching to really determine whether this was the right path for me and, more importantly, whether I could truly contribute to the team," Oshiro said at Monday’s news conference in the governor’s office.
"I needed to step up to a larger role, and so that’s why I’m really excited to actually take on this and do it full time instead of just doing it in my legislative duties, which was primarily as policymaking from January through May. Now I actually can be on the ground floor, working all year round and helping with the implementation of policies to make sure that we move things forward."
Oshiro was the main supporter for the civil unions bill, which became law earlier this year, making Hawaii the seventh state to legalize civil unions.
At the news conference, House Speaker Calvin Say said, "Truly it’s a loss for members of the House, but it is a gain for the people in the state of Hawaii and this administration. I think he’ll do an excellent job in supporting this particular administration."
