Honolulu Mayor, City Council announce transit authority members
Written by jrood
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and the Honolulu City Council have appointed the Council's nominees to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, which will oversee the rail transit project connecting East Kapolei with Ala Moana Center. HART will be comprised of three members appointed by the council and three others by the mayor. The city and state transportation directors will also serve on the authority, which will then choose its ninth member. The director of the Department of Planning and Permitting is an ex-officio non-voting tenth member of HART. Mayor Carlisle appointed retired union representative William Hong, current Corporation Counsel Carrie Okinaga and First Hawaiian Bank Chairman Don Horner. "These three highly-qualified individuals, with years of valuable experience in their respective fields, will keep politics out of the rail project," said Carlisle. "I am grateful they agreed to serve the public by being part of HART, to ensure the project stays on course to be completed on time and on budget." Council Vice-Chair and Transportation Committee Chair Breene Harimoto introduced the following nominees, subject to a Council vote: attorney Ivan Lui-Kwan, strategic planner Keslie Hui and Damien Kim of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
