Oh, now you hire an accounting expert

A certified public accountant with 29 years of experience is poised to be the newest board member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, and thank goodness for that.

As HART Chairman Don Horner remarked on Thursday about Terri Fujii’s preliminary selection, "Ms. Fujii was exactly the person we need, given our financial situation right now."

That "financial situation" is HART’s estimated $900 million overrun on its 20-mile, originally $5.2 billion rail project that’s not even half built yet. Perhaps Fujii should have been brought on board much sooner.

Pending approval by the full board on Sept. 24, she will serve the remaining term, through June 30, 2018, of former state Senate President Bobby Bunda, who resigned from the board earlier this summer.