The agency overseeing Oahu’s rail transit project "generally" followed federal rules in its spending of nearly $14 million on public outreach.
However, it must keep a closer eye on its consultants to ensure their taxpayer-funded expenses are justified, a city audit released Monday found.
The report, released by the Office of the City Auditor, looked at spending by rail consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff and InfraConsult going back to 2005 on so-called "public involvement," efforts to keep the community informed about the project through forums, media and other methods.
The audit found that those firms wield large control over the project’s costs even though they have been held to "minimal accountability" by city transit officials.
Additionally, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation should work harder to convert many of the project’s pricier consultant jobs into city positions, the audit said.
"More oversight and accountability needs to occur at HART to justify the millions spent on public involvement," the report stated.
HART disputed the findings. The semiautonomous government agency is ahead of schedule in transferring many of its consultant jobs to the city, HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas stated in a lengthy Dec. 12 response letter to city Auditor Edwin Young. About 80 percent of HART’s 132 staff positions are now city jobs, with the rest filled by InfraConsult, Grabauskas said.
When HART was created several years ago, it was the other way around, with consultants making up about 80 percent of those working at HART, he said Monday.
About 24 full-time positions for public involvement have been trimmed to 9.5, and nearly $3 million in costs for those efforts have been cut since Grabauskas took the helm in 2012, the audit said. (Grabauskas said that staff number has been further trimmed to 8.5.)
Still, the audit found that more could be done to rein in all the outreach expenses. Rail’s public involvement team often distributes brochures, fact sheets and logo items at fairs and conventions around town, but it doesn’t have a way to gauge how effective its efforts are or whether it could do more to save costs, the audit stated.
"It’s not a simple measure," Grabauskas responded Monday. "We dispute the fact that we don’t try to measure it, because we do."
The audit singled out blog postings by former pro-rail blogger Doug Carlson, who promoted the project through 2012 under a more than $350,000 two-year Parsons contract, as the one instance where "questionable" outreach practices occurred. Dozens of Carlson’s 118 rail blog posts were either political, editorial or "inappropriate" in content, the audit found.
But rail-themed children’s coloring books, T-shirts, tote bags, water bottles and other novelty items promoting the project did comply with federal rules, the audit stated, despite earlier complaints by some rail critics that those items were wasteful and excessive.
Consultants continue to manage millions of dollars for the project, yet the audit pointed out that unlike HART employees, they are exempt from filing annual financial disclosure forms, a step the city takes to avoid potential conflicts of interest. In his response letter, Grabauskas said those consultants have to follow state ethics guidelines.
Rising overhead rates — the charges for expenses in addition to labor — are making consultant costs more expensive, the audit found. The overhead rate for some Parsons Brinckerhoff employees working on the project increased 50 percent from fiscal year 2011 to 2012, it stated.
The audit further pointed out that many project consultants received raises while city employees took furloughs and pay cuts around the same time.
"One thing that I think Edwin Young is right on, is an auditor can do a lot to point out where you can do better," Grabauskas said Monday.
"Saying that we’re transitioning but maybe we can do better is fine," he added. But on other points "we respectfully disagree."
To read the audit, visit www1.honolulu.gov/council/auditor/auditofhartpublicinvolvementprogramsfinalreportforprint-ingandweb.pdf.
