Honolulu’s Managing Director Mike Formby and 11 others will continue in their roles as the city’s top appointed officials.
The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday on separate but related resolutions to confirm many of those comprising Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s next executive Cabinet.
As part of the mayor’s second four-year term, most of those being tapped for the city and county’s key leadership roles have maintained them since Blangiardi first assumed the city’s top elective office on Jan. 2, 2021.
Among them, Formby — who oversees Honolulu’s current $4.7 billion budget — thanked the mayor for the opportunity to lead the city’s day-to-day operations.
“I want to thank him for his confidence in me during my first four years, and nominating me for his second term, so I appreciate his confidence, ” he told the Council. “And second, I wanted to thank the Council. … I enjoy working with all of you and look forward to the vote.”
After the vote, Blangiardi — who appeared at Wednesday’s Council meeting but did not formally address the panel on these nominations — shook hands with his returning managing director.
Besides Formby, the Council’s formal confirmation of city department heads also included:
>> Andy Kawano, director of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services.
>> Dana Viola, corporation counsel.
>> Kimberly Hashiro, director of the Department of Customer Services.
>> Dita Holifield, director of the Department of Enterprise Services.
>> Nola Miyasaki, director of the Department of Human Resources.
>> Brian McKee, director of the Department of Information Technology.
>> Masahiko Kobayashi, M.D., medical examiner.
>> Laura Thielen, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
>> Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting.
>> Clarke Bright, bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band.
>> Lloyd Yonenaka, executive secretary of the Neighborhood Commission.
In a statement, the mayor said he was “deeply grateful to the City Council for its thorough review and confirmation of these key cabinet appointments.”
“I look forward to the confirmation of the remaining nominees so we can move forward with a fully staffed leadership team committed to serving our community with excellence,” he said. “Together, we will continue to advance our city’s vision, improve efficiency, and tackle Honolulu’s wicked problems.”
In a written statement of his own, Council Chair Tommy Waters said, “The Council’s confirmation of these appointments reflects our collective commitment to effective governance and collaboration.”
“We look forward to working closely with the mayor and his cabinet to advance the interests of our city,”
Waters added.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Laie resident Choon James publicly testified on some
of the newly confirmed
directors.
A longtime real estate
broker, James singled out Formby, Viola and Takeuchi Apuna over what she deemed were the city’s plan to support the nonjudicial sale and seizure of properties on Oahu involving DPP and state Legislature.
She noted the Legislature is currently mulling House Bill 29 — introduced in January by state Rep. Cory Chun (D, Pearl City-Waipahu-
Crestview) — which could authorize counties, “after adoption of power of sale laws, ordinances, or rules, to sell private property after all notices, orders, and appeal proceedings are exhausted, and to use those revenues to pay unpaid civil fines related to that property,” the bill’s summary indicates.
HB 29, as drafted, targets unattended properties and their negligent owners.
“(It’s) a power of sale to seize a property without
going to court, based on DPP fines,” James said during public testimony on Formby’s Council confirmation. “To expose our constituents everywhere to such a powerful tool” would be unwarranted.
She added that Formby “might be a nice person, but what happens if there is someone who is more treacherous and nefarious and mischievous?”
“So my suggestion to Mike is to … please leave this alone because it is a very bad bill, it will turn us into Communist China,” she said.
Meanwhile, several additional Cabinet nominations await confirmation. Those include:
>> Anton C. Krucky, nominated as director of the Department of Community Services.
>> Dominic H.K. Milles, nominated as director of the Department of Design and Construction.
>> James Ireland, nominated as director of the Emergency Services
Department.
>> Roger Babcock, nominated as director of the Department of Environmental Services.
>> Gene C. Albano, nominated as chief engineer of the Department of Facility Maintenance.
>> J. Roger Morton, nominated as director of the Department of Transportation Services.
>> Catherine A. Taschner, nominated as director of
the Department of Land Management.
According to Council staff, the Council “will actively assess the nominations in the coming weeks, ensuring a rigorous evaluation of each candidate’s qualifications and unwavering commitment to serving the Honolulu community.”
Among the pending nominees is HESD Director-
designate Ireland, who has come under criticism for his leadership of the city’s paramedic division, particularly over unit closures — when an ambulance is not available to respond to 911 calls for service.
Low morale, chronic
understaffing, employee
favoritism and frequent resignations are other criticisms being alleged against Ireland.
Those criticisms — which included testimony brought by former city EMS workers — prompted the Council’s Public Safety Committee on Feb. 13 to postpone a vote on Ireland’s future tenure in that post.
In his defense, Ireland
assured the committee his progress made to cure unit closures involved 2023 data, which shows “an 11.4% daily ambulance
closure rate, and very roughly, with 21 ambulances, that comes to about two per day.” He said early on he’d contracted with a private ambulance firm “to supplement our operations to mitigate that effect of two city ambulances being down.”
The committee is scheduled to hold its next meeting Thursday.
