Former councilman Felix tapped for HART board

A longtime Oahu businessman, philanthropist and former Honolulu city councilman who once helped block rail from proceeding on Oahu during a pivotal 1992 Council vote is now poised to join the rail board.

John Henry Felix, chairman of the Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, was nominated last week by Council Chairman Ernie Martin to join the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board, online records show.

If the Council approves Felix’s nomination, he would replace one of the body’s previous appointees, Ivan Lui-Kwan, whose term expires June 30. Lui-Kwan said through a rail spokesman last week that he would not apply for a second five-year term.

The City Council gave itself until Wednesday to nominate candidates. So far, Felix is the only one who’s filed. On Thursday, Councilman Trevor Ozawa said that the Council, which appoints three HART board members, wasn’t seeing a lot of interest from qualified candidates to serve on the 10-member unpaid volunteer board.

Felix’s nomination comes as the project faces renewed financial hardships and eroding public confidence.

“I was asked because of the current situation. I did not volunteer,” Felix, 86, said in an interview Monday. “The board has to be the driving force of this enterprise. My concern is the taxpayers. (HART board members) have to ensure the taxpayers are protected.”

He added, “We’re about ready to cross the Rubicon.”

Felix served on the Council from 1988 to 2002. In 1992 he was among a five-member majority that narrowly defeated a half-percent general excise tax surcharge increase that would’ve funded a 16-mile elevated rail system similar to the one being built today.

In 2004 Felix paid the city $49,500 for operating a commercial wedding business at his Aina Haina home in violation of city zoning regulations from 1999 to 2002. In 2010 he agreed to pay a $50,000 administrative fine to settle claims that he violated campaign financing laws following his 2009 bid to return to the Council.

“I went through the legal process, and we worked out a fair and equitable resolvement. I was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case of the campaign issue, and I self-reported,” Felix said of the campaign finance fine Monday.

“With the wedding chapel, I was proved correct in court” but paid the fine on a “technicality,” he added.

Felix also served on numerous boards and has helped lead the state’s American Red Cross and Boy Scouts of America chapters, according to his nomination file.

“Dr. Felix’s extensive experience as an elected official, private businessman, Korean War veteran and international humanitarian aid worker will add a unique level of insight and leadership to the HART board,” Martin said in a statement Monday. “He was never in favor of building the rail project, but he has always been committed to common sense and the cost-effective delivery of government services.”