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Lanihau P roperties, LLC
,P.O. 430l 90.32
giCua-Kpna, `KI 96745
Atone: (808)9.36_7129 e Ia.• (A8).329-8044
Entail-rsmith a Canihau.net
January 19, 2021 COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAIII
RECEIVED
Maile David, Council Chair Ti :gap.M,
Members of the County Council DateZie-
- 1 9 2021
E: Letter of Support, S. Ikaika Rodenhurst, P
Director of the Department of Public Works
PW TCA, Communication 38
Aloha, my name is Riley W. Smith, P.E. I am again writing in support of
Ikaika Rodenhurst, P.E. as the Director of the Department of Public
Works.
As a reminder, I was on the interview panel that reviewed the
applications for this position and made our unanimous recommendation
to Mayor Mitch Roth. As additional info, I was the former Deputy Chief
Engineer, for the Department of Public works (1993 to 1995) under
Mayor Stephen Yamashiro.
In addition to my prior comments (items #1 to #5 below) that I provided at
the Committee meeting on January 5, 2021 , 1 wanted to add this new
information (the following paragraph):
Since the prior Committee meeting, I understand that Mr. Rodenhurst
has reached out to each of the nine Council members, including those
that did not support his selection and provided supplemental information
to his resume. He understood the concerns raised on his past
administrative experience and felt it appropriate to share what is required
in order to be a Project Engineer, Construction Manager, as well as
elaborate on his direct supervision responsibilities. These skill sets
confirm his ability to manage multiple tasks and stay on budget, as well
as on schedule. His ability to multi-task, maintain productive working
relationships with his clients, governmental agencies, community
stakeholders, as well as subordinates, is essential. These are exactly
the skill sets that a Director for this Department should have, the
willingness to reach out to those that have differing opinions and to
always remember that he works for all of us on Hawaii island. Q
Comm. N . o 1
Ref. To: d1 •
Ref. tate z�,�� ��
My reasons for recommending that you confirm Mr. Rodenhurst for this
position include (previously provided, included here for reference):
1 . He interviewed very well. He was thoughtful, deliberate and clear
in his discussion with us. He admitted that at his young age (mid-
thirties?) he lacks extensive administrative and management
",,.'experie.n ce, over direct subordinates. However, in our discussion
.with him, he clarified that he does have extensive experience in
doa-li ig.with-government agencies (State DOT, State DOE, County
DPW), clients and members of the community, while performing his
construction administration responsibilities at Bowers + Kubota.
We felt this enabled him to meet the minimum qualifications of the
position. During our time, he also was able to convey his passion
for the job and the challenges that it presents.
2. He embraces the importance of family and balance in life and the
requirements of the position. He regularly alluded to his past
football experience (Oregon State and University of Hawaii,
Division 1) and how he welcomes challenges, his ability to relate to
people (even those older than him), work with their strengths,
support their weaker skill sets, in order to accomplish the tasks at
hand.
3. He mentioned that in his prior position (Construction Manager,
Bowers + Kubota), he was constantly assessing risks and working
to minimize them, as he was able to, and then worked to mitigate
negative consequences for those risks he did take on.
4. He is smart, articulate and clear in his responses. He appears to
have a systematic means of diagnosing issues and a collaborative
approach to working on solutions to problems. One of his
interesting traits; he always asked at the end of each response
"...did I answer your question, can I elaborate on anything that I
wasn't clear on". We thought that was a real mature means of
showing that he cares and is sincere in his communications. For a
physically big person, he didn't seem to try to "push" his point, he
was just persistent in his responses.
5. Subsequent to our interview with Mr. Rodenhurst (mid December),
he asked our panel to also interview for his Deputy at Public
Works. In my call back to him, I asked what he was looking for in a
Deputy. I wanted to know whether he wanted to hire someone who
knew what he already did, or whether he wanted to hire someone
that would complement his strengths, back him up where he had
less experience, and hopefully someone that would be based in
West Hawaii and be able to meet with and support the Mayor's
goals for our entire island community. He gave me the "right/latter"
answer. I knew when he provided this response, that he was
humble, was eager to learn and wanted to benefit from what others
a
knew, that he didn't. For this reason, we also unanimously
recommended he hire Merrick Nishimoto, for the Deputy position.
3
For these reasons and based on our one-hour interview with Mr.
Rodenhurst (and my numerous phone calls with him since),
recommend that you confirm him as the Director for the Department of
Public Works.
3
Should you have any questions that you'd like to discuss, I can be
reached at rsmithplanihau.net or call me at (808) 936-7129.
Very truly yours,
3
�J i�fff
Riley W. Smith, P.E.
President/Chief Executive Officer