HONOLULU — Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has appointed Keith Suzuka as Deputy Director of the Department of Land Management and Ben Sullivan as Deputy Director of the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency.

What You Need To Know

  • Keith Suzuka fills the vacancy left by Catherine Taschner, who was elevated to department director in April

  • Suzuka has more than 30 years of experience in business law and residential and commercial real estate, both in the U.S. and Japan

  • Ben Sullivan has worked in the city’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency for the past two years as an energy program manager
  • Sullivan fills the vacancy left by Nicola Hedge, who returned to her native New Zealand earlier this month. He started his new role on Monday

“We are very excited Keith and Ben have agreed to take on these key leadership roles,” Blangiardi said.

Suzuka fills the vacancy left by Catherine Taschner, who was elevated to department director in April.

“Keith’s depth of knowledge and experience with the complexity involved in land acquisitions is exactly what we needed,” Blangiardi said. “The combination of Keith Suzuka and director Catherine Taschner provides us with unprecedented capability in this critical area for the city.”

Suzuka will start on July 3.

“Keith is a skilled attorney and real estate broker and will be an excellent addition to the DLM team,” Taschner said. “Keith’s experience and leadership will drive execution on critical land transactions and will help to lay a solid foundation for DLM, the newest department in the city.”

Suzuka was previously a partner with McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP. He has more than 30 years of experience in business law and residential and commercial real estate, both in the U.S. and Japan. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.   

Sullivan has worked in the city’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency for the past two years as an energy program manager. From 2011 to 2021, he served as an energy and sustainability coordinator in the Kauai County Office of Economic Development.

“Ben Sullivan is a knowledgeable, passionate, visionary leader perfectly suited to help us meet the uncompromising demands we face in adapting to climate change, Blangiardi said. “We are very excited to have Ben take on this important leadership role.” 

Matt Gonser, chief resilience officer, called Sullivan “a strong collaborator with content command who can directly engage stakeholders and city departments to continue progress on Mayor’s priorities of city efficiency and modernization, and community affordability and equity through climate action.”

Sullivan studied environmental design at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He fills the vacancy left by Nicola Hedge, who returned to her native New Zealand earlier this month. He started his new role on Monday.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.