The board that oversees Oahu’s elevated rail transit project is poised to lose two members.
On Friday, Robert "Bobby" Bunda announced through a statement that he’ll leave the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board of directors June 30 — three years before his term was set to expire — to spend more time with family.
"The experience I have gained as a member of the HART board has given me a deep sense of appreciation for my colleagues on the board and for the entire HART team, all of whom work hard each day to make the project successful," said Bunda, a former state legislator who served six years as Senate president.
Bunda’s departure comes as another prominent HART board member prepares to leave. Carrie Okinaga, the HART board’s former chairwoman, has been recommended to take a job as the University of Hawaii’s general counsel; she is slated to leave HART if she’s hired.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, City Council President Ernie Martin and HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas all praised Bunda’s service in the same statement released Friday.
Bunda leaves as the 20-mile, 21-station project faces up to a $910 million budget gap and the public waits to see whether Gov. David Ige will sign into law a five-year tax extension to close that gap.
Bunda joined the 10-member HART board in 2011.
The HART board will issue a call for nominations in July and later hold a public hearing and selection process for Bunda’s replacement, according to agency officials.
The HART board’s votes are typically unanimous, but last month Bunda cast the lone dissenting vote to forgo Grabauskas’ annual performance bonus.
Grabauskas had made a request to forgo the $35,000 bonus, saying "now is simply not the time" amid the agency’s need to find cost savings for the cash-strapped rail project. However, Bunda argued that the board shouldn’t be "wimps" and should defend the bonus to "support (its) CEO because he’s done an excellent job."
The UH Board of Regents, meanwhile, will consider Okinaga’s nomination for general counsel during the executive session of its regular meeting Thursday.
