Mayor-Elect Announces 3 More Cabinet Appointees

Hawaii County Mayor-Elect Mitch Roth.

Hawai‘i County Mayor-elect Mitch Roth announced three new cabinet appointees Sunday, roughly two weeks before he will assume the highest office on the Big Island.

S. Ikaika Rodenhurst, of Hawaiian Acres, will captain the Department of Public Works; Ramzi Mansour, of Honolulu, will head the Department of Environmental Management; and former Hawaiʻi County Councilman Zendo Kern, of Kurtistown, will take the reins of the Planning Department. The name of the director of the Department of Research and Development will be released at a later date.

Rodenhurst, a Kamehameha Schools graduate and Civil Engineer, lost a close race for the Hawai‘i County Council District 5 seat earlier this month to now two-time councilperson Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder.

Kern is best known as the County Councilman for District 5 during the 2013-2014 Council Session, during which he chaired the Planning Committee. Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Kern is currently the owner of Kern and Associates, a land-use consultancy specializing in zoning changes and governmental compliance.

Mansour is currently Division Chief of Wastewater Treatment and Disposal on special assignment to the Director of Environmental Services for the City and County of Honolulu. Prior to that, he spent 20 years as Senior Engineering Manager for design, construction, and closure for the Waste Management Department in Kern County, California.

All three of Mayor-elect Rothʻs appointments will face confirmation by the County Council.