HART employees voice support for CEO Lori Kahikina
May 4—1/1
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina speaks during the grand opening of Skyline on June 30, 2023.
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Several Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation employees attended a HART board committee meeting Friday to voice their support for the agency's Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina, who has come under fire from some board members.
The showing comes as Kahikina, whose $275,000 executive contract with HART expires Dec. 31, recently received a critical performance evaluation in her role as the rail agency's leader. The same review asserts inadequate staffing has "affected morale and retention" of its employees.
During HART's Human Resources Committee meeting Friday to discuss HART's efforts to recruit and retain employees, accountant Gina White attended — wearing a T-shirt reading "Team Transit" — to speak on Kahikina's success as a leader.
"'I've been under several different CEOs," she said, "and I'm here in support of Lori Kahikina as CEO."
White added she also backed Kahikina because "she's someone from here," unlike other HART executive officers who returned to their mainland homes after leaving the agency.
Doug Herring, a city engineer working for HART, said Kahikina was well liked.
"The way that employees at HART regard Lori, we think she's great," he added. "This is from talking with co-workers — both city and consultants; she's generally regarded favorably.
"You've got a few people that are negative, but that's true in any organization," he said.
JoAnn Oyama, a HART executive management employee, questioned HART board member Michele Chun Brunngraber, who chairs the Human Resources Committee.
"How have you helped Lori?" asked Oyama, noting the HR committee needed to better assist in filling dozens of vacant positions at HART. "And we as city employees feel the same, too. And as the old song goes, I want you to think about 'what have you done for us lately?'"
Brunngraber replied, "I would really encourage everyone who has maybe these same feelings to watch the previous HR meetings and watch our behavior ... in terms of concern for employees, actions that have actually been taken, those kinds of things."
Kahikina later thanked those who appeared on her behalf, saying she did not know of their plans to show up at the meeting.
In a written statement, HART officials told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser it "was not aware of the public testimony at the onset" of Friday's committee meeting.
"The individuals that testified did so of their own volition," the statement said.
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 the nearly $10 billion Skyline to Kakaako by 2031. HART said his departure was family-related.
Kahikina also noted the pending retirement of Deputy Executive Director Rick Keene by the end of the year.
But Meddings' resignation drew dismay from HART's board, particularly during its April 12 Human Resources Committee meeting, where board Chair Colleen Hanabusa and Kahikina loudly clashed over the matter.
"He made his decision already," Kahikina told the board's upset leader.
Hanabusa fired back, "But you didn't think it was in the best interest of this project to talk to him about it and maybe say, 'Hey look, calm down, we know it's a difficult time, let's talk about this. We'll give you two weeks, go see how it is'?"
"He made his decision," Kahikina replied.
"That's not my point, Lori. My point is he's somebody who's critical to this project!" Hanabusa shot back.
To fill the director's position, HART promoted Deputy Project Director Vance Tsuda. Other vacancies remain, however.
At Friday's meeting, Human Resources Specialist Sandy Aguilar said the rail agency "currently has 39 employees."
"We also have an additional 33 vacant positions that are funded by the city, 26 positions that are unfunded, and that gives us a total of 98 city full-time employees," she said.
She added that HART "currently has 14 open positions," including three "top-priority positions that we need to fill."
Those positions include HART's chief financial officer — a position that's gone unfilled for the past two years, she said.
Expressing her frustration several times at the meeting, Kahikina asserted that her ability to hire key personnel — like a chief financial officer — was made even more difficult due to the instability of her own job.
"It's very public what's happening here," she said, claiming that a top candidate for HART's CFO spot was now reluctant to take the job. "She doesn't want to continue further discussions until she understands what's the status of my contract."
Meanwhile, the scheduled discussion of Kahikina's future contract with HART was deferred Friday. That action prompted HART board Vice Chair Kika Bukoski to question the delay.
"I'm just wondering when you plan to discuss (Kahikina's contract)," he asked Brunngraber.
She replied, "I'm really hoping to work with Colleen (Hanabusa) and bring something to the board meeting."
Still, Bukoski expressed more concern.
"We've deferred this issue, I think the last several months, and the longer we delay in deciding on the CEO's contract, the further down the road we get, the more difficult it's going to become," he said. "And I'm sure, eventually, if it hasn't already, (it) will have an impact on the progress of the project ... and make it more difficult for us to bring in qualified candidates to fill key positions."
Board member Natalie Iwasa agreed, saying Kahikina's contract needed to undergo board review.
"I think the sooner that gets done the better," Iwasa said, noting she appreciated HART staffers testifying on their CEO's behalf. "And one thing that I noticed ... is the word 'team,' and so it really takes a team effort to get this project completed."
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of a HART employee JoAnn Oyama's name.
