Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has hired Tim Sakahara as his communications director, the city announced in a news release on Thursday.

Sakahara, who begins work on Feb. 16, will be leaving his current job as communications director for the Hawaii Department of Transportation. Previously, he worked as a journalist for 17 years including at Hawaii News Now, where Blangiardi was the general manager.

“Tim Sakahara brings a very real depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in both government and media to lead our communications team,” Blangiardi said in a statement. “In our commitment to best serve and communicate vital information to our residents, Tim is an extraordinary and gifted communicator. We are all very grateful and excited Tim has accepted this very challenging role.”

In a statement, Sakahara said he is grateful for the opportunity to join the team of his former boss.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with HDOT and look forward to working for the City and County of Honolulu and communicating the new administration’s mission and goals to the public in a positive, transparent and effective manner,” he said.