Rail Chief’s Lastest Evaluation Raises Questions About Whether She Has A Future With Rail

The newly released annual evaluation of Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation CEO Lori Kahikina cites an array of shortcomings in her performance last year, including a complaint that she has “restricted the Board’s access to vital details required for oversight.”

The evaluation by the rail project’s board of directors also raises concerns about HART’s inability to hire new employees for key management positions during Kahikina’s tenure, a longstanding problem the board said has affected morale and retention of staff.

The board also noted that “questions about a perceived discrepancy between her official narrative and her staff’s facts and statements have been raised.”

The one-page evaluation was released to Honolulu Civil Beat this week in response to a public records request.

The final paragraph of the document opines that “Kahikina’s overall performance is viewed positively,” but the evaluation lists criticisms in the areas of staffing, recruitment, employee relations and transparency.

It also critiques some of her dealings with the board, which has the power to hire and fire the chief executive officer.

Board Chair Colleen Hanabusa clashed openly with Kahikina during a board meeting just last week, another hint that Kahikina’s future with the $10 billion rail project may be in doubt. Kahikina’s contract with HART expires at the end of 2024.

This is the second time in two years the board gave her an evaluation that was mediocre or worse. Kahikina said last year she was disappointed with the board’s review of her performance, but on Tuesday she declined a request for an interview on the latest evaluation.

However, Kahikina submitted a letter to the board on April 2 in her own defense, suggesting that the board’s evaluation downplayed some of her accomplishments in 2023. She specifically cited the launch of interim rail service from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium last June.

“We overcame legacy problems such as wheel/rail interface issues and hammerhead cracks, along with extensive testing and commissioning, in order to achieve this significant milestone,” she wrote in her letter.

She reminded board members that Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi described the rail project as one of the biggest problems the city faced when he was first elected, and the mayor also said the Federal Transit Administration had lost confidence in the project leadership before she took charge.

The FTA suspended federal funding for the Honolulu rail project in 2017, but Kahikina pointed out that HART recently finalized a new grant agreement with the agency that will reopen the spigot of federal funding for the project.

She described those events as “a huge feat” and “an accomplishment that brought pride to the entire HART team.”

As for the criticism that Kahikina was not transparent with board members, or had restricted the board’s access to information, Kahikina said in her response that “I am not aware of instances that are being referenced in this comment.”

Kahikina’s highly critical evaluation was unanimously approved by all seven of the voting board members who were present on Feb. 27 when the document was adopted by the board. Only board Vice Chairman Kika Bukoski expressed reservations.

Bukoski did not respond to a request for an interview this week, but said at the time of the vote there were differences of opinion among board members on some issues.

“I also have some differences of opinions in some areas, and maybe how some areas were portrayed or described in the overall evaluation,” he said.

The evaluation focuses largely on problems with recruitment for key leadership positions at HART, an issue that is now listed as the greatest risk for the project by consultant Hill International Inc.

Hill monitors the Honolulu rail project for the FTA, and has repeatedly flagged problems with filling vacancies in critical positions at HART. The consultant’s most recent report said the HART vacancy rate is more than 30%.

The board’s escalating concern with staffing in critical management slots burst into public view on Friday during a heated discussion about the sudden resignation of project director Nate Meddings, a top manager who was described by one board member as a “linchpin” of the rail project.

Hanabusa and other board members demanded that Kahikina explain what steps she took to try to convince Meddings to stay. Kahikina replied she met with Meddings four times to discuss his plans.

The evaluation expressed particular alarm at inadequate HART staffing just as work begins on the critical city center guideway and stations portion of the project. That will be a huge undertaking to build rail through in the urban core, and is expected to cost on the order of $1.3 billion.

“No measurable improvement in HART staffing overall occurred in 2023, and HART’s metrics significantly trailed the average of Honolulu City and County employment metrics,” according to the evaluation.

Kahikina has publicly acknowledged shortcomings in her management style, telling board members on Friday that “I know I can be a difficult leader and tough. I understand that, so I’m trying to change, change the perception, change how I react with or interact with the different employees.”

She said she has begun a series of one-on-one meetings with employees, in part to discuss employees’ goals. She told board members she is trying to be “not so intimidating.”

The evaluation also highlighted problems with Kahikina’s relationship with the board.

“Her interactions with the Board, and collaboration with Board priorities and Charter obligations, have also raised concerns,” the evaluation states. “Kahikina’s public handling of her 2022 evaluation and 2023 objectives demonstrated a lack of executive bearing, and underscored the importance of immediate attention to align with the Board’s responsibilities and authorities.”

The evaluation also advises Kahikina to consider retaining an executive coach to enhance her executive skills and leadership.

Natalie Iwasa, a non-voting member of the HART board, said she felt the evaluation’s commentary about staff recruitment and retention was unfair to Kahikina. Iwasa stressed that she was speaking about the issue in her capacity as an individual.

“Staffing is an issue industry-wide, government agency-wide, and it’s been an issue for several years. It’s not limited to one agency or another,” she said.

Iwasa also argued the board is partly to blame if recruitment is difficult because Kahikina is “verbally battered” at public board and committee meetings. She said potential employees must be questioning why they would consider joining the HART staff given those public displays.

And Iwasa said it appears Kahikina has been targeted for removal since last year. “I don’t know what is behind all that,” she said. “That would definitely be a reasonable conclusion by anybody watching these meetings.”

But Michele Chun Brunngraber, who is chairwoman of the HART Human Resources Committee, disagreed. She said the evaluation should be read as “really, really tough feedback, but not an indictment.”

There are widely differing views on the board about Kahikina’s managerial performance, Chun Brunngraber said. For example, she said Kahikina and Hanabusa have some basic disagreements. Hanabusa also did not respond to a request for an interview this week.

Chun Brunngraber said some issues about communication with the board stem from Kahikina’s reluctance to speak publicly about things that need to remain secret, such as HART’s internal estimates of how much contracts will cost before those contracts go out to bid.

Kahikina has indicated she wants to continue as CEO after her current contract ends at the end of this year, but “the big tamale” for Kahikina will be whether HART manages to hire a contractor to build the city center rail segment at a price the city can afford, Chun Brunngraber said.

The city submitted a recovery plan to the FTA in 2022 that shortened the rail line from the original 20 miles to 18.9 miles to cut costs. The FTA agreed, and the plan now is to end the line near the intersection of Halekauwila and South Streets rather than building it to Ala Moana Center as originally intended.

“FTA gave you everything you asked for, you shortened the track, so you’d better bring it in,” Chun Brunngraber said. “That’s the bottom line, right?”

HART is scheduled to award that contract in August.