The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) narrowed its search for a new president down to 10 candidates. The new president will replace Rex Johnson, who resigned in October after it was discovered he forwarded offensive e-mails on his work computer to personal acquaintances.
The authority chose an executive recruitment firm to make a recommendation on a new president.
The HTA decided to cut Johnson’s salary and the length of his employment contract to one year, but refused to fire him, Pacific Business News reported. The e-mails Johnson had forwarded were later released, and they included jokes referring to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Gov. Linda Lingle called on Johnson to resign or be fired.
