Formby is the likely interim District 4 Council member

A Honolulu City Council committee Wednesday voted to recommend former city transportation chief Mike Formby to be the temporary District 4 representative, pending resolution of the Trevor Ozawa-Tommy Waters election conflict.

The 8-0 vote by the Council Legislative Matters Committee sets the stage for the full Council, composed of the same eight members, to approve his nomination today. If approved, he’ll likely be able to attend committee meetings on behalf of the East Honolulu district within the following 24 to 48 hours.

He was picked from a list of 19 names nominated by Council members, East Honolulu residents or people who believed themselves worthy candidates. Formby was nominated by rookie Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi.

“I do believe that he has the depth and breadth of experience that we need right now at the City Council,” Tsuneyoshi said. When she was a staff member for former Councilman Ernie Martin, she said, “he was very impartial and very forthright with everything that he worked with us on at the Council” even though he was appointed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Formby said after Monday’s meeting that, assuming he is appointed today, he will be attending neighborhood board meetings and reaching out to their chairmen “and reach out to the communities and identify their priorities for the budget.”

Ensuring federal funding for the Ala Wai Canal improvement project, which is expected to be greatly affected by climate change, is a big priority, he said. “I’m concerned about climate change, I’m concerned about traffic, I’m concerned about vacation rentals and ‘monster’ homes — all of those things that have impacted the district. And I want to hear what the people in the district have to say.”

Formby said he did not seek the interim position, but was approached by two different Council members, including Tsuneyoshi, Formby said. “I read about it in the paper and was interested, but I felt if people felt like my past work was deserving, somebody would nominate me.”

Among the other candidates, only two got endorsements from Council members.

Longtime Waialae-Kahala Neighborhood Board Chairman Richard Turbin, an attorney and former Council candidate, was nominated by Councilman Ikaika Anderson while Kahi Pacarro, founder of environmental group Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, was supported by Councilman Brandon Elefante.

Both of those nominations were voted down when put before all eight committee members.

Formby, who turns 61 later this month, first joined the city as Caldwell’s transportation services director in January 2013. He resigned to become acting director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation after embattled Director Dan Grabauskas left in August 2016.

An attorney, Formby resigned from HART to become then-incoming Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa’s chief of staff in November 2016 until her term expired in January.

Formby was also state Harbors Division chief and acting director of the Department of Transportation in the 2000s.

Formby, who has lived in Kaimuki since 2005, said he will use his experiences with the city, state and federal government to help him in the coming months. Formby said he has no plans to run for elected office. “I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of guy,” he said.

Hanabusa accompanied Formby to Monday’s committee meeting, but she did not testify.

Caldwell, in a written statement, called Formby a strong supporter of mass transit and rail in particular. “I have no doubt his experience would benefit not only the residents of East Oahu, but also his colleagues on the City Council until a permanent member is elected.”

Formby will serve until the all-mail, “re-do” election between Trevor Ozawa and Tommy Waters is decided in April. Ozawa’s 22-vote victory was challenged by Waters. The Hawaii Supreme Court last month invalidated the results of the first election, triggering a new election.

The winner likely will take the seat sometime after the April special election, depending on certification and potential challenges.

On Monday the full Council unanimously approved Resolution 19-12 formally authorizing a special election.