HART executive director to get raise in new deal

The board overseeing Oahu’s rail project voted unanimously Thursday to give Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Director Dan Grabauskas a new three-year contract, which, if signed, would take effect this spring with a 5 percent raise.

Grabauskas’ current three-year deal, which pays an annual base salary of $245,000, ends in April. The new contract would pay Grabauskas a base of $257,000 and make him eligible for a 3.5 percent raise in the subsequent two years.

The new contract would also replace the current flat-rate bonus of $35,000 that Grabauskas now gets each year for meeting performance goals with a range of bonus amounts that could equal as much as 15 percent of his salary.

The bonuses could total more than $38,500 in the first year of the new contract and then increase depending on whether Grabauskas gets raises in the subsequent years.

The new contract would also retain Grabauskas’ existing annual $36,000 housing and $6,000 transportation allowances. It needs to be signed before Grabauskas’ current deal ends, and it would expire in 2018 — one year before the full rail line is slated to open.

On Thursday, board members praised Grabauskas’ handling of the $5.26 billion project, which he’s led since 2012.

"We think we’ve found a leader who makes tough decisions, who makes lemonade out of lemons," board member Carrie Okinaga said after the board emerged from a closed session to discuss the proposed compensation.