HART chief gets a raise, and probably deserves it

Whenever a taxpayer-funded public official gets a raise, so do the public’s eyebrows. The latest is Dan Grabauskas, the executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

HART’s board of directors approved a new three-year contract with a base salary of $257,000, with an eligibility for a 3.5 raise in the following two years. Is that too much? For the person responsible for overseeing the state’s largest public works project — the $5.26 billion rail transit system — perhaps not. If he gets the job done on time and on budget, it’ll be worth it. Just like it’d be worth it if the University of Hawaii-Manoa would get its act together. The man in charge there, Robert Bley-Vroman, makes about $275,000. And UH-Manoa’s athletic director? He makes about $290,000.

Beleaguered resort finally getting the ax

Oh, Makaha Valley Resort, we hardly knew ye.

Some 45 years after being built by visionary developer Chinn Ho, the 173-room hotel way out on Oahu’s west side is about to be torn down.

Perhaps Ho’s vision for the property was just a tad too far ahead of its time, as the hotel never did well financially — though the accompanying golf course is somewhat popular and will be remain open while the current property owner, Pacific Links Hawaii, spends $30 million or so to renovate it and possibly will invite a partner to build a new hotel at the site. Good luck with that. Sooner or later, it will make sense.