Enough already.
That’s what went through many minds as Lori Kahikina — the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation CEO who’s helped put rail construction back on track — got increasingly criticized by HART’s board of directors, culminating with public shouting in an April meeting by board chair, Colleen Hanabusa. The escalating tensions made it look unlikely that Kahikina would have her $275,000 annual contract extended upon expiration at year’s end.
But the growing conflicts caught the attention of the Federal Transit Administration — which on Monday warned that leadership uncertainty at HART could jeopardize the next $250 million round of federal dollars, hard-fought funds needed to help complete the last stretch of the city’s 18.75-mile Skyline rail system.
Enough already, indeed. So it was necessary, and welcome, to hear Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Tuesday firmly declare his support for Kahikina, calling on the HART board to extend her a multiyear contract — and further, to fully cooperate with an investigation into any alleged “bullying and harassment” of Kahikina by board members.
Consider this a full-throated endorsement of Kahikina’s ability to take the $9.8 billion Skyline to the finish line. Blangiardi’s two-page memo to HART’s board, staffers and Kahikina urged all “to prioritize this transformative taxpayer-funded project and put personal differences aside. We owe it to the FTA and the taxpayers of the City and County of Honolulu.”
Yes — Oahu’s long-suffering taxpayers cannot afford more delays and waste on this project. As if Skyline doesn’t already have enough inherent construction difficulties, it is foolish to inject more drama and uncertainty over its completion. Particularly at this critical time, with a major contract for rail’s last segment expected to go out for bid next month.
Public confidence in the long-troubled project has been hard-earned in recent years. After years of CEO turnovers that brought a lot of promises but only ballooned rail’s budget, the workmanlike hand and candor of Kahikina — the city’s former wastewater chief — helped get the first half of Skyline launched last summer, with the goal of South Street completion in 2031.
But intensifying conflicts, mainly between Hanabusa and Kahikina, risk all that. To be sure, difficulties remain over HART staff recruitment and retention; April’s abrupt resignation of project director Nate Meddings is concerning; and Kahikina’s style may need moderation. But now would be a poor time to oust a capable CEO, one who knows the ins and outs of this complex project. Finding a replacement would be disruptive and time-consuming, layered atop FTA concerns about leadership instability affecting funding. When HART’s Human Resources Committee meets Friday on Kahikina’s contract, extension is decidedly in this project’s best interest.
Politically, Blangiardi’s public support of Kahikina speaks volumes about the confidence in her ability to oversee Skyline’s toughest, urban segment. It was Blangiardi, after all, who appointed Hanabusa to the HART board in summer 2021, just nine months after she endorsed him for mayor after losing to him in the 2020 primary election. That appointment moved attention away from a controversial rail consultant deal Hanabusa was poised to get; she had been the sole bidder on a six-year, nearly $1 million contract. Further, Blangiardi’s backing of Kahikina looks even weightier given that his managing director, Mike Formby, had been Hanabusa’s chief of staff in Congress.
For those with long memories, the underlying irony of the political tangles and tussles at HART is that the semi-autonomous agency was purposefully created by Oahu voters to avoid undue political influence and power plays. Today, the HART board can — should — still fulfill its mandate to ask pointed questions of the project, to ensure public accountability, fiscal guardrails and system safety. But personal grievances cannot be allowed to further derail this major project.
“I don’t want to be the distraction,” Hanabusa said in May 2021, accepting the HART board appointment in lieu of the $1 million contract. “I want to see this project completed.”
Three years later, Hanabusa must stand by those statements. Too much is at stake.
