Rail veteran hired as interim CEO

As rail’s new interim executive director and CEO, Krishniah Murthy will step into a giant transit project mired in severe cost overruns, schedule delays and an uncertain future.

But the former Los Angeles County transit executive and engineer says he wants the challenge of steering Honolulu rail “in the right direction” while its board members spend the next year seeking a permanent replacement for the project’s former director, Dan Grabauskas.

“This project has a lot of potential here for the city and county. I believe in it,” Murthy said moments after the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board approved his hiring Thursday.

Murthy, a consultant who retired in 2014 as L.A. County Metropolitan Transit Authority’s executive director for project delivery amid restructuring there, boasts more than 40 years of experience helping to deliver new rail, highway and bus projects, according to a resume provided by HART.

Prior to his seven years helping to build rail lines across that sprawling Southern California city, Murthy spent 37 years with the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, a former rail consultant.

Since Grabauskas’ departure in August, HART board members have said they wanted someone with more rail construction experience and solid ties to the Federal Transit Administration. Murthy was chosen from five candidates, and he fits that bill, rail board member Colbert Matsumoto said.

“I’ll tell you that it wasn’t easy” to find highly qualified candidates for a job that lasts only a year, Matsumoto said Thursday. To get Murthy, the city will make him its highest-paid employee with a base salary of $400,000. He’ll also earn a 10 percent bonus if he hits certain benchmarks, according to Matsumoto. HART officials did not provide a copy of his employment agreement Thursday because Murthy’s lawyer hadn’t signed it, they said. Grabauskas had earned $299,250 a year.

Murthy will take a pay cut from what he earns as a consultant to serve as the interim director, said Colleen Hanabusa, who served her last meeting Thursday as a HART board member.

With his hiring, HART also aims to restore public trust as rail costs have repeatedly spiraled past the agency’s official estimates. (The project faces at least a $1.8 billion budget gap.) He’ll start at the agency Dec. 5 — weeks before city and rail leaders formally approach the state lawmakers for the second time in three years to ask for a rail tax extension. Murthy says he will play an active role in that effort.

“Public confidence is unfortunately his major challenge,” Hanabusa said. “We have to continue to build public confidence and build the transparency.”

Murthy said he briefly worked as a peer reviewer for the Honolulu rail project about 15 years ago while he was with Parsons.

To improve rail, Murthy said he will assess the technical capabilities of HART and its consultants. He’ll look at the agency management and see “what kind of fine-tuning that we need to do.” He added that he would not “go back and visit the past and try to find out what happened” because “that will be a waste of time.”

Murthy said it is too early to speculate whether he will pursue the job permanently. “Let’s see how well I perform here and how I can turn things around,” he said.

HART board member Terrence Lee expressed concerns Thursday that as rail moves forward the agency isn’t authorized to hire managers at salary levels with the needed experience and qualifications.

“Given the challenges of this project, if we can’t hire the right level of personnel to properly execute their duties and responsibilities, how are we going to avoid future problems down the road?” Lee said.

Acting Executive Director Mike Formby will also leave HART and the city Nov. 7, and Thursday marked his last board meeting. Hanabusa said that in Formby’s nearly three months leading HART, he helped to change the “culture” within the agency, enabling its personnel to speak up about any concerns without reprisals as they do their jobs.

“As we talk about transparency, we needed the transparency within HART itself,” she said. As she leaves the board, Hanabusa said she was hopeful the project would eventually be built to Ala Moana. However, HART can’t bring “half-baked” budget estimates to the Legislature or City Council, she said. “You’ve got to be honest,” Hanabusa added.

Murthy, who’s worked on transit projects across the U.S. and in London, Singapore and New Delhi, said he enjoys working on major transit projects because he’s leaving a legacy even if people don’t know who he is.

“It gives me the satisfaction that I was able to contribute something to the city. That it’s a long-term influence that I have left … in those places,” he said.