Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi is asking the City Council to formally establish the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts in the City Charter, a move the administration says would give the 55-year-old program greater authority and stability across future city administrations.
But during a recent meeting of the Council’s International and Legal Affairs Committee, Council members questioned the need for the change to the program, also known as MOCA, including whether doing so would increase city costs and why it was not brought before the Honolulu Charter Commission as it developed 20 possible Charter amendments for Oahu voters to consider in the Nov. 3 general election.
Committee members also questioned the measure’s remarkable similarities to a separate Charter question on cultural stewardship that voters will consider this year.
The mayor’s original proposal, under Resolution 201, described MOCA as a
“distinct executive department” within the Office of the Mayor.
But after the committee meeting, the Mayor’s Office clarified that the resolution’s language was in error and that the proposal is intended to establish MOCA as an “office,” not a new city “department.”
“This proposal is about recognizing that work and providing greater continuity for it,” Scott Humber,
mayor’s communications
director, said. “It is not about creating another city department or expanding government.”
Humber said the mayor’s Charter amendment would formally establish an office that already exists, define its role in the Charter and ensure that arts and culture “continue to have a clear place within city
government.”
Blangiardi submitted the proposal Aug. 26 under his executive reorganization authority in Section 4-202 of the City Charter. Resolution 201 was subsequently introduced on Sept. 1.
“The administration is strongly committed to expanding Honolulu’s diverse cultural landscape,” Blangiardi wrote in his message to the Council.
The mayor said establishing MOCA in the Charter would support local artists, honor Native Hawaiian traditions and uplift diverse communities.
“Adoption of this proposal will provide MOCA with more visibility, organizational stability, and continuity across future administrations and beyond changes in leadership,” Blangiardi wrote.
Founded in 1971, MOCA currently operates as a program within the Office of the Mayor and is administratively situated under the city’s managing director.
The office, under the proposed Charter language, would be headed by an executive for culture and arts appointed and removable by the mayor. The executive would coordinate city programs and initiatives involving culture and the arts and promote cultural and artistic activities throughout Honolulu.
MOCA also would work with the Commission on Culture and the Arts on the Art in the City Buildings Program and the inspection, inventory and maintenance of the city’s art collection. It also would manage the Sister City Program and international relations involving cultural and knowledge exchanges.
Humber said the proposal would not automatically give MOCA a larger budget or additional staffing. “Funding and staffing would continue to be handled through the city’s
normal budget and administrative processes,” he said.
MOCA’s operating budget for the current fiscal year that began July 1 is more than $1.107 million, and funds seven full-time positions, according to city budget documents.
During the committee’s Sept. 24 meeting, MOCA Executive Director Jennifer Santos said the proposal would establish her program as a “distinct department within the Office of the Mayor, administratively managed through the Managing Director’s Office.”
“It is not a change to
MOCA’s mission, programs or any of the scope of work or services we provide,” she said.
Council Vice Chair
Andria Tupola questioned how the proposal differs from Charter Amendment Question No. 3, which
voters will consider Nov. 3.
That amendment asks voters whether an Office of ‘Oiwi Resources and Cultural Stewardship should be established within the Office of the Mayor to oversee the management of ‘oiwi — or Native Hawaiian cultural resources — and develop related programs and create a Cultural Advisory Council of kupuna, cultural practitioners and community representatives.
Santos said MOCA “was not looking to expand into any of the proposed responsibilities or kuleana that the ‘Oiwi Resources team would cover.”
Tupola also questioned the timing of the proposal with ballots about to be mailed.
Santos said the timing was “actually a coincidence” and that the Mayor’s Office had been working on the request for about a year.
Council Chair Tommy Waters questioned why the proposal had not gone through the Charter Commission. “MOCA’s been working just fine, why the change now? … It just seems out of the blue,” he said.
Santos said the change would position MOCA to be “valuable and foundational to the city and to the organizational structure of the city.”
Waters also questioned whether Santos would become a department head and receive a higher salary if the proposal were approved. He noted city department heads make about $211,000 annually, compared with what he stated was Santos’ current salary of about $150,000 a year.
“So will your salary be jumped up from $150,000 to $211,000?” Waters asked.
Santos replied, “Those are not conversations that we have had, no.”
But Waters said that potential cost increase was something the Council should consider. “Because ultimately it’s going to come back down to the budget, whether or not we can afford to elevate you like this, right?” he said.
No one from the public testified at the meeting.
In written testimony for the meeting, local artists, including Brandy McDougall, supported MOCA’s expansion.
“I can attest personally that MOCA’s support has been completely transformative for my poetry, its development, and its public visibility,” McDougall wrote.
Emma Broderick, executive director of Pu‘uhonua Society, a Native Hawaiian nonprofit focused on cultural and artistic endeavors, also backed Resolution 201.
“Importantly, MOCA’s work extends far beyond event production or public art administration,” Broderick wrote. “It creates space for ‘ike Hawai‘i, supports local artists and cultural practitioners, fosters civic engagement, and ensures that Honolulu’s public spaces reflect the histories and values of the communities they serve.”
Scott Nishimoto, chair of the International and Legal Affairs Committee, eventually introduced amendments to change the resolution’s language, designating MOCA as an “office” rather than a “department.”
He also noted the mayor’s proposal is subject to the Charter’s executive reorganization process, under which a mayoral reorganization takes effect upon Council approval or after 60 days, unless rejected by a two-thirds vote of the Council’s full
membership.
“So we have to act today,” Nishimoto explained. “It would have been my preference to take our time with this, but because of this Charter section, if we do nothing it enacts
automatically.”
Ultimately, the committee voted 7-0, with Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Val Okimoto absent, to advance the resolution as amended.
But five members —
Radiant Cordero, Esther Kia‘aina, Augie Tulba, Tupola and Waters — voted “with reservations” on the mayor’s proposal.
