State Sen. Kurt Fevella today plans to follow up with federal and state officials on his request that they investigate the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation on various issues while the troubled rail project continues to face uncertainty and a $3 billion budget deficit.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi, City Council Chairman Tommy Waters and Lori Kahikina, HART’s interim CEO and executive director, are tentatively planning a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet Federal Transit Administration officials in July or August. But the Honolulu contingent will have little to report because there’s still no plan on how to plug the $3 billion budget deficit to build the 20-mile, 21-station rail system to Ala Moana Center, the state’s busiest transit hub.
So the FTA meeting “is now a meet-and-greet, a temperature check,” Kahikina said.
At the same time, the term of one of the HART board’s newest and most outspoken board members, Joe Uno, is scheduled to expire Wednesday.
Uno runs his own construction cost consulting firm and was named last year to fill the rest of the term of former board member John Henry Felix. Uno has since been calling for the rail project to end at the planned Lagoon Drive rail station, just one stop short of the Middle Street station.
Once past Middle Street and the problem-plagued
Dillingham corridor, there is no money to build the remaining 4-mile stretch of rail and eight remaining stations from Kalihi to Ala Moana Center. The project is now expected to cost $12.449 billion and be completed in March 2031.
Uno’s seat is appointed by the City Council, and as of Friday, Uno had not been notified that he could speak before the Council to testify on behalf of his reappointment.
“It would be a real big mistake to not reappoint (me),” Uno said. “Transparency’s out the window if they don’t reappoint me.”
Like other board members, Uno spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser as an individual board member and not on behalf of the board or for HART.
Fevella told the Star-Advertiser that he would like the HART board to consider removing board Chairman Tobias Martyn. The board appointed Martyn and has the power to remove him, Fevella said.
But Martyn appears to enjoy support from a majority of the board members who have voting power.
Uno predicts a scenario in which Martyn steps aside and possibly resigns from the volunteer board.
When former HART board Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa — who was appointed by Blangiardi — rejoins the board next month, “I think Colleen will become the next board chair, and Toby might step down and maybe even resign at that point,” Uno said. “I think he might want to get out of the limelight a little bit.”
Martyn’s term is scheduled to expire Nov. 30, 2023.
The HART board’s unusual voting system makes it unlikely that Martyn would be ousted by the board.
Only nine of the 14 board members have voting power. According to the board’s recent practice, eight of the nine voting member must agree for any proposals to be adopted.
“It takes eight votes to make anything happen,”
said board member Natalie Iwasa. “If two people were to say no, then it wouldn’t happen. Even though a few people might support removing Martyn, I don’t think it’s likely to happen because
of the quorum issue.”
Two bills that were designed to clear up the HART board’s voting situation died in the Legislature last session.
Last week Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) — the state Senate’s minority leader — wrote to the FBI, FTA and state Attorney General’s Office requesting that they investigate HART on a variety of concerns based on media reports.
They include “possible criminal acts” committed by Martyn related to “Rail General Obligation Bond Issuances,” regarding Martyn’s “affirmative vote requesting the Honolulu City Council approve the issuance and sale of ($292 million in) rail general obligation bonds. This action was taken while Mr. Martyn also served as Stifel Financial Corp’s Branch Manager and Vice President of Investments.”
The city did not respond to a request for information about Stifel’s role in the sale of the bonds.
Iwasa, a certified fraud examiner, said Stifel was involved in the sale of some bonds for HART, and the
timing of the firm’s involvement would be critical in determining whether Martyn had a conflict of interest.
As the HART board chairman, Martyn voted Jan. 30, 2020, to recommend the
City Council approve a bond sale without disclosing a possible conflict, Iwasa
said.
“The timing of that seems he probably knew Stifle would be involved,” she said. “Based on my understanding of the law, he should have disclosed that. … It’s important to follow the timeline.”
Fevella also alleged that Martyn was involved in a “possible violation” of Hawaii’s Sunshine Law by meeting with board Vice Chairman Hoyt Zia and board member Lynn McCrory in December.
Martyn did not respond to a request for comment through HART.
Fevella also wants investigations into whether HART violated state procurement laws while soliciting two bids, including a nearly
$1 million consulting contract to Hanabusa, a former congresswoman.
Board member Kika Bukoski shares Fevella’s concerns and has urged that they be discussed in public at the board level.
So far, there have been no publicly announced plans to discuss the issues before the HART board.
“I’m extremely disappointed and concerned,” Bukoski said. “We need to have a discussion. Whether I think it’s realistic? … There’s always hope, right?
“We need to be more open and transparent, not just to the public, but at the board level,” Bukoski said. “There’s some very serious issues that we as a board need to discuss, clarify and decide
if and how we move forward, if there is a forward. I just want to follow the process, the charter, our polices and the rules, nothing less.”
