Hawaiian Telcom said it will pay its new chief executive officer and his management team $600,000 a month to run the company.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, the local phone company reported its financial terms with New York-based firm Kroll Zolfo Cooper, whose chairman, Stephen Cooper, was named Hawaiian Telcom's CEO on Monday.

Cooper's team, which includes Chief Operating Officer Kevin Nystrom and two associates, will be entitled to a bonus based on the company's performance at the end of year.

One of the nation's top turnaround experts, Cooper replaced Michael Ruley, whose three-year tenure as head of Hawaiian Telcom abruptly ended this week.

The 61-year-old Cooper is charged with improving Hawaiian Telcom's operation, which has lost thousands of customers, tens of millions of dollars and is under investigation by the state Public Utilities Commission for poor customer service.

In its SEC filing yesterday, Hawaiian Telcom said Cooper and his management team will devote about 75 percent of their time to the local phone company.

The company also said it was negotiating a severance package for former CEO Ruley.

Ruley, who declined comment earlier this week, received about $1.1 million in compensation in 2006, according to company filings with the SEC.

Figures for 2007 were not available.

During his 35-year career, Cooper has worked on more than 700 corporate restructurings and turnarounds. Between 2002 and 2005, he worked as chief executive officer of Enron, where he sold off the assets of the troubled Houston-based energy trader.

He replaced former ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted on federal fraud charges.

Cooper made headlines during Enron's bankruptcy when he asked for a $25 million bonus, or "success fee," for his efforts. He later cut his request in half to $12.5 million after the U.S. Justice Department opposed the bonus.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.