Colleen Hanabusa is taking on a new challenge outside of the political arena: Honolulu’s public rail transit project.
Starting later this month, the former congresswoman from Waianae will replace Carrie Okinaga on the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board of directors, which oversees the cash-strapped rail project that’s currently under construction.
"I am a product of the Leeward Coast. … Anybody wants to talk to me about the worst traffic, I’m somebody who did it from eighth grade every day to Honolulu to go to school," Hanabusa said at a news conference Monday, where Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell introduced her as his pick to replace Okinaga on the all-volunteer board.
Hanabusa described the 20-mile elevated project as a "game-changer in how people think about transportation."
However, she also acknowledged that she has previously held reservations about rail. Asked Monday whether she had supported the project historically, Hanabusa replied, "I am a supporter of the people’s will.
"I may not have agreed necessarily that steel-on-steel may have been the best thing, but that’s not relevant any more. The people have spoken," Hanabusa said, referring to the rail technology selected for Oahu’s public transit system. In 2005, as a state senator, Hanabusa voted yes but "with reservations" to allow counties to enact the general excise tax surcharge. Honolulu is using that surcharge to fund most of its rail project.
Still, Hanabusa added that she believes it’s important for the project to succeed now that it’s underway. It remains to be seen how she’ll fit in with the other nine rail board members, who typically vote unanimously on most issues. Hanabusa said she hadn’t yet spoken with board Chairman Ivan Lui-Kwan — or any of the board’s other members — about her appointment.
Her inclusion comes at a tumultuous time for HART and the elevated rail project, which faces a budget shortfall of as much as $910 million. The state Legislature passed a bill last month that would extend the so-called rail tax by five years to close that gap, but it remains to be seen whether Gov. David Ige will sign the extension into law.
"She didn’t jump at it right away. As any smart person would do, she said, ‘Let me think about it,’" Caldwell said Monday. Before he was elected mayor, Caldwell served with Hanabusa in the Legislature. He said that the pair discussed the idea of appointing her for several weeks before she accepted last week.
"I always had my fingers crossed, hoping she would say yes," he added.
Under the City Charter, the mayor and City Council each appoint three of HART’s 10 board members. City and state transit directors also hold seats, and the board then votes to select a ninth member. The city’s planning director serves as a 10th, nonvoting member.
Okinaga, meanwhile, is leaving HART as she prepares to take a job as general counsel for the University of Hawaii.
Hanabusa, who narrowly lost her U.S. Senate bid last year, will serve out the remainder of Okinaga’s term through June 2016. At that point, Hanabusa could be reappointed to a maximum of two five-year terms, HART officials say.
A former state Senate president, Hanabusa served two terms in Congress. She then lost a 2014 Democratic primary bid to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who had been appointed to replace the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, in a nail-biter election that came down to the voters in two Hawaii island precincts hit by Tropical Storm Iselle. Schatz went on to win the general election contest to fill the remainder of Inouye’s term.
Lately she has been focusing on her law practice, she said, which includes representing the Hawaii State Teachers Association in certain legal matters. That includes last week’s successful effort by HSTA to block in state court a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the re-vote in its recent controversial election.
Hanabusa said her understanding of both construction (as a lawyer who previously specialized in that field) and the legislative process would make her a strong asset for the HART board.
As one of its members, she said she aims to foster better communication with Oahu residents about rail — the largest public works project in Hawaii’s history.
"If there’s a criticism (in what she’s seen so far), it’s in the communication," she said of the semiautonomous board. The group is mainly focused on finishing the project, and "they’re not thinking about the politics of it or what people may think."
