HART director offered multi-year contract: “Prayers!” »

FILE – Lori Kahikina, CEO of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit, flashes a smile after receiving a multi-year contract offer to maintain her leadership position, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 28, 2024.

HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaii Rapid Transit Authority board is ready to move forward with Lori Kahikina as executive director.

There was unanimous consent to offer Kahikina a multi-year contract with a minimum duration of 3 years, subject to negotiations. Many testified in support of his continued leadership.

“The HART staff believes in Lori. I have confidence in Lori,” said Doug Herring, a HART employee. “I was offered a few other positions and chose to stay with HART because I believe in it. »

“What she did to gain the trust of people like us in a community and in the federal government and to get the funding, I think she has to take her hat off,” witness Allen Cardines, Jr. said.

Some might point to the low passenger numbers or the many delays Rail has experienced, but witnesses said Kahikina’s commitment has been on target.

“She explains things to people, she answers everyone’s questions, she does community presentations, so I think it’s very wrong that people put all the pressure on one person,” Angela Melody Young said.

Speaker Colleen Hanabusa recused herself from voting on the contract while the city’s human resources department reviews concerns Kahikina recently expressed about her treatment by some council members. Kahikina said she wasn’t sure if she should start looking for a new job before receiving the offer.

“Today the question is more: ‘Do I stay or not?’” Kahikina said. We haven’t even gotten to the details of the contract yet. The question is: “Do you want me to stay or not?” »

It’s not a done deal yet — contract terms still need to be negotiated and agreed to, but Kahikina said one of his concerns about a multi-year contract has been resolved.

“Because I wouldn’t agree to a year or two years, it’s just that we’ll be back here in about a year, so,” Kahikina said. “The best-case scenario happened today. So, prayers! I know there’s prayers everywhere. I have my prayer warriors out there and they made it happen!”

Kahikina said an agreement on the terms of the negotiations must come before the end of August 2024, otherwise she will have to look for a new job and the board will have to find a new CEO of HART.