HONOLULU — The embattled leader of Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation received support this week from four members of the nine-member City Council.
During a special budget hearing Monday morning, HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina, who’s come under fire in recent weeks from some on the board and has voiced concerns of her own over her future at the rail agency, got public backing from Council Vice Chair Esther Kia‘aina.
In doing so Kia‘aina noted that her Council district — which encompasses Windward Oahu communities from Waimanalo to Kaneohe — is not included in the city’s nearly $10 billion Skyline project, which plans an 18.9-mile, 19-station route from West Oahu to urban Honolulu.
“Representing the Council district with the least support for HART and for rail, I just wanted to make a comment in support of HART Executive Director Lori Kahikina’s leadership as she has guided the HART project through its opening of the first leg and continues to work diligently on its completion,” Kia‘aina said. “To me she has been very transparent with both the Council as well as the general public, and I am confident in her capabilities to continue to keep HART on the right track.”
Kia‘aina added, “It’s very easy for us to forget all that it takes to keep the project on track, because we are here and we are not privy to a lot that is going on with HART as well as with the board.”
Council member Andria Tupola agreed.
She told Kahikina at the meeting, “Because there is a fight to be fought when you’re the executive director of HART — and sometimes it’s internal, sometimes it’s external, but nonetheless — I do think fiscal responsibility is something you have led with, and we appreciate that.”
“We appreciate all of the sacrifices and hits and attacks that you’ve taken on behalf of this city so this project can try to push forward even through adversity,” she added.
Council member Matt Weyer — whose district largely encompasses the North Shore and other parts of rural Windward Oahu — echoed Kia‘aina’s comments.
“We might be No. 2 in terms of the number of folks who have ‘HART-burn,’ or concern about rail, just given the size of our district and limited access,” he said, but added that he appreciated “Director Kahikina’s engagement and involvement and getting the project back on track, no pun intended.”
Council member Radiant Cordero — whose Council district partly runs through Kalihi and the airport area — voiced support for Kahikina finishing the rail project.
“My district includes Dillingham, and so we need to keep it moving because of that,” she said. “We can’t leave Dillingham the mess it is right now; we need to keep it moving forward.”
Kahikina did not respond to Council comments.
The Council’s partial show of support for Kahikina, whose $275,000 executive contract with HART expires Dec. 31, comes as she recently received a critical performance evaluation in her role as the rail agency’s leader.
The same review — overseen by HART’s board of directors — asserted that inadequate staffing has “affected morale and retention” of its employees.
During HART’s Human Resources Committee meeting May 3, several HART employees spoke on behalf of Kahikina. She later thanked those who supported her, saying she did not know of their plans to show up at the meeting.
HART’s executive management team has faced challenges in recent weeks. In early April, HART Project Director Nate Meddings abruptly resigned from his three-year post to guide construction of Skyline to Kakaako by 2031. HART said his departure was family-related.
Vacancies remain as well.
Those positions include HART’s chief financial officer — a position that’s gone unfilled for the past two years, according to HART.
Expressing her frustration several times at the May 3 committee meeting, Kahikina asserted that her ability to hire key personnel — like a CFO — was made even more difficult due to the instability of her own job. At the same meeting a scheduled discussion of Kahikina’s future contract with HART was deferred.
For the upcoming 2025 fiscal year, which begins July 1, HART says its proposed operating budget totals over $138.3 million, a 27% increase over its current $109.2 million budget.
HART’s proposed capital budget for next fiscal year — including the City Center Guideway and Stations project to build rail into Kakaako — totals $574 million, a nearly 1% increase over the current $569 million capital budget.
The Council is scheduled to adopt HART’s latest budgets — along with the city’s proposed $3.63 billion operating budget and a proposed $919 million CIP budget — by June, according to Council staff.
