Bills aim to clarify Honolulu rail vote confusion

Questions over voting issues that loom over the rail project’s governing board — which have affected at least two recent, high-profile votes and brought the board to inaction over other issues — are intended to be resolved under various bills moving through the Legislature.

Out of 14 Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation directors, only nine are allowed to vote, which raises the question of what represents a quorum in order for the board to even meet, and how many votes are needed to pass or derail motions.

The lingering questions have profound ramifications for the future of HART and most recently played oversize roles in no less than the ouster of HART’s CEO and executive director last year, as well as a vote on how HART should proceed after the city pulled out of participating in a public-private partnership agreement to complete the final, 4-mile segment of the 20-mile, 21-station project to Ala Moana Center.

“I didn’t make the rules, but I’m totally in favor of fixing it,” said voting member Kika Bukoski, who was appointed by the City Council.

Bukoski’s initial “no” vote — along with a “no” vote from then-board member Terrence Lee — delayed the board’s initial public effort in September to oust Andrew Robbins, HART’s CEO and executive director at the time.

The board later voted to hire a consultant to help resolve the quorum and voting questions, among other issues. HART is still working on procuring a consultant, according to former Councilman Joey Manahan, who is now HART’s deputy executive director of government relations and public involvement.

Then, just before Christmas, with Lee retired from the board, Bukoski had no support to extend Robbins’ tenure or postpone the hiring of his interim replacement, Lori Kahikina, the city’s former director of environmental services.

The issue of how many votes are required to pass motions also arose while the HART board debated over how to direct Robbins to proceed after the city pulled its support to form a public-private partnership to build the final segment to Ala Moana Center.

In November, Robbins ended up telling the board that he was giving up on pursuing a so-called P3 contract.

“The voting and quorum issue can tend to hinder the board and the board’s ability to operate properly,” Bukoski said. “It was an issue in the P3, and it was an issue in the disposition of the CEO and executive director position. It is an issue.”

There are several reasons why:

>> The HART board members are unpaid volunteers, so other demands often take them away from attending meetings.

>> And the confusion grew when the number of directors expanded to 14 from the original 10 when the state Legislature in 2017 required two nonvoting members selected by the House speaker and two more nonvoting members picked by the Senate president as part of a $2.4 billion rail bailout.

>> Currently, only nine of the 14 HART board members have voting authority. They are the three board members appointed by the City Council; three picked by the Honolulu mayor; one selected by the HART board; one representing the state Department of Transportation; and one who represents the city Department of Transportation Services, Manahan said.

The five who cannot vote are the two appointed by the House speaker, two by the Senate president and another representing the city Department of Planning and Permitting, Manahan said.

Three bills before the Legislature look at fixing the voting and quorum questions differently.

Senate Bill 998 would specify that the board members appointed by the Senate president and House speaker would be voting members, meaning that 13 of the 14 HART board members would have voting power. It passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday and is on its way to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 1288 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 1324, would do the opposite.

They would keep the board members appointed by the House speaker and Senate president as nonvoting members but make it clear that their positions “shall not be counted towards a quorum,” making it easier for the board to at least hold meetings.

HB 1288 is scheduled to be heard this morning in the House Transportation Committee.

Back in 2018 the HART board could not even muster a quorum to vote on a motion on whether to support a City Charter amendment intended to fix the problems.

The amendment would have clarified the minimum number of both voting and nonvoting board members that would be needed to constitute a quorum, as well as specify how many votes were necessary to pass motions before the board.

But only seven HART board members showed up to the 2018 meeting on whether to support the amendment. So there were not enough members to constitute a quorum and cast votes.

Questions continue to cloud the board’s voting to this day.

Bukoski said he supports all of the legislative bills intended to bring clarity to the HART board’s proceedings — and that legislators are justified in having a say in how the board proceeds because of the state’s investment in rail.

“The Legislature provides 75% of the funding to the rail project through the GET (general excise tax) and TAT (transient accommodations tax), giving them a voice — not just a seat — at the table, but a voice,” Bukoski said. “I don’t think either (bill) is necessarily a bad thing.”