As the newest addition to Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration, newly appointed Chief of Staff Ray Soon said his years of experience in public- and private-sector work should help him hit the ground running in his new role.
"I’ve been in government a lot in the past. … I understand how the city works," Soon said Tuesday. "So I don’t think there’s a big learning curve.
"The learning on my part will be understanding where the departments are and what I can do to help them move their agendas forward."
Soon is a professional planner and former state department director with deep community and political ties. His appointment was applauded by Council leaders after it was announced Tuesday.
"Ray Soon brings a wealth of government experience to the table that will be of benefit to the Caldwell administration," Council Chairman Ernie Martin said in a statement. "I am hopeful that he will also be able to foster meaningful communication between the mayor and the City Council."
Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi praised him as someone who "knows how to deal with problems and situations."
Soon joins the administration at a time when relations between the Council and administration have been contentious at times, particularly over budget issues.
Most recently they blamed each other over the recent discovery of a $26 million shortfall in the city’s operating budget just two months into the fiscal year.
Caldwell cited the City Council’s failure to approve a hike in the city’s fuel tax, which would have added $15 million, as well as its decision to award up to $9 million in grants to nonprofits, and a larger-than-anticipated collective-bargaining agreement with city police officers.
Council members countered that they passed a balanced $1.8 billion budget and the overspending was due to the administration’s premature assumption that a fuel tax increase would be adopted.
Kobayashi said she hopes to learn more when officials from the Department of Budget and Finance appear before her committee at a hearing scheduled today.
Soon said he would take a back seat to the managing director and department heads in dealing with issues before the Council, adding that he hopes to be a "facilitator" who can help parties find common ground to advance measures.
"That’s where I hope my participation is: to find those things we can do together and to move the chain forward," Soon said.
Soon served as director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission from 1993 to 2003, and later as a vice president of community relations for Kamehameha Schools. A member of numerous boards and commissions, he has been president of the consulting firm Solutions Pacific since 2006.
Soon also is familiar in political circles, having been appointed to President Bill Clinton’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in 1996 and serving a key role in the transition team for Gov. Neil Abercrombie. His wife, Cheryl, was director of transportation services in former Mayor Jeremy Harris’ administration.
A Kalani High School graduate, Soon is scheduled to start Sept. 3, with an annual salary of $125,000.
He will stay on as president of Solutions Pacific, adding that his company will not seek any city contracts while he is working for the Caldwell administration.
