Council begins Cabinet confirmation process

The permanent appointment of Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s new executive Cabinet began this week at the City Council’s meeting Wednesday.

At the start of the mayor’s second four-year term, many 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.

And at the meeting, the Council’s review included introductions from all major department heads, then referral of those directors to the panel’s respective committees for further review.

Prior to that, Council Chair Tommy Waters asked all of the city’s nominees — or designates — to step forward and say a few words about themselves and their ongoing work in public service.

Among them, city Managing Director Mike Formby — who oversees Honolulu’s current $4.7 billion budget — told the Council he sought to return to lead the city’s day-to-day operations.

“I’m hoping and trusting that my body of work over the last four years demonstrates my qualifications to be managing director in the mayor’s second term,” said Formby. “I’ve tried my best to work closely with Council, with our communities, with our residents and our taxpayers, to act with the spirit of collaboration, with thoughtful deliberation so that we could move this city forward.”

To start, Formby received public support from North Shore Neighborhood Board Vice Chair Racquel Achiu to continue on as the city’s managing director.

“It’s very rare to get the engagement, and the support and the time from our leaders that we have experienced here on the North Shore in the past few years,” Achiu said via remote testimony. “So I’m very appre­ciative of that, and I’m appreciative of the time, and the work that has been put in place. And I look forward to that collaboration to continue.”

But Council member Radiant Cordero wanted to see more collaboration — and a greater disclosure of information — from the city administration to the Council.

“How are you going to better the communication and relationship with the legislative branch?” Cordero asked.

In response, Formby said, “The answer, of course, is a ‘yes,’ I think we can always improve, always do better, and I take that to heart and we’ll focus on that.

“But clearly, we want to work closely with all Council members,” he added.

Cordero — who co- sponsored legislation with Vice Chair Matt Weyer against the city siting solid-waste landfills above Oahu’s freshwater aquifer, after the city administration surprised many in December by saying the island’s next garbage dump might sit atop active agricultural lands and groundwater sources near Wahiawa — said she’d reserve the rest of her comments for the Council committees.

“But I just want to share that (the Council) would not like to find out things in the news, thank you,” Cordero added.

Council member Esther Kia‘aina also commented about federal-level changes — namely, the new Trump administration’s priorities that appear to shift federal funding away from cities like Honolulu — will require Formby to continue to play a “critical role” in the city administration.

Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam echoed Kia‘aina’s comments.

“Managing director, you are at the helm of our canoe and leading us forward, and over the past nine days we’ve gotten a sense of maybe some stormy waters ahead,” said Dos Santos- Tam. “So I wanted to ask right now, how concerned are you on a scale of 1 to 10, on the federal funding issue, and what steps is the administration taking right now to help mitigate us and reprogram things?”

Formby replied, “On a scale of 1 to 10, probably 10 — very concerned.

“And we’ve been trying to prioritize those federal funds that go to the most needy among us,” he said. “So obviously, we’re looking at our HUD programs, our voucher programs, moneys that go to our nonprofits that assist those that are in the (asset-limited, income- constrained, employed) population.”

Although he noted the Trump administration rescinded its prior funding freeze on federal loans and grants Wednesday, Formby said, “We expect them to come back in a more targeted way.”

“And so we have to be on our toes,” he added.

Besides Formby, other mayoral picks include:

>> Andy Kawano, director of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services.

>> Anton Krucky, director of the Department of Community Services.

>> Dana Viola, corporation counsel.

>> Kimberly Hashiro, director of the Department of Customer Services.

>> Dominic Haku Milles, director of the Department of Design and Construction.

>> James Ireland, M.D., director of the Department of Emergency Services.

>> Dita Holifield, director of the Department of Enterprise Services.

>> Roger Babcock, director of the Department of Environmental Services.

>> Gene Albano, director of the Department of Facility Maintenance.

>> Nola Miyasaki, director of the Department of Human Resources.

>> Brian McKee, director of the Department of Information Technology.

>> Catherine Taschner, director of the Department of Land Management.

>> 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.

>> J. Roger Morton, director of the Department of Transportation Services.

>> Clarke Bright, bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band.

>> Lloyd Yonenaka, executive secretary of the Neighborhood Commission.

In accordance with the City Charter, the mayor’s appointees serve in a “temporary commission” status until the Council confirms and permanently appoints them.

Most of Blangiardi’s appointee directors — as well as their deputy directors — took their oaths of office Jan. 2, during the mayor’s inaugural ceremony at Mission Memorial Auditorium.

The mayor’s Cabinet appointees do not include those leading Honolulu’s Police and Fire departments.

The city’s police and fire commissions, respectively, hire the city’s top law enforcement officer and its lead firefighter — currently, Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan and Fire Chief Sheldon Kalani Hao.

Likewise, the new city Ocean Safety Department is now overseen by acting Director Kurt Lager. But following a voter-approved charter amendment in the Nov. 5 general election, a yet-to-be-formed Ocean Safety Commission is expected to hire its next head lifeguard.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors has the power to recruit, hire and evaluate its top executive — currently, HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina — to lead the city’s nearly $10 billion rail construction project.

Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steven Alm, an elected official, is not deemed a member of the mayor’s Cabinet.

Previously, Ian Scheuring, Blangiardi’s deputy communications director, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the city’s department heads are “commissioned to serve — kind of like officers in the military — in their positions until confirmed by the Council.”

“The process to name or confirm the mayor’s Cabinet, including the timeline, is determined by the City Council,” he said previously. “There is no date by which the Cabinet must be formed.”

And in a new statement, Waters said, “Confirming the mayor’s cabinet members is a crucial step in ensuring that our leaders are not only qualified but also deeply connected to the needs and aspirations of Honolulu’s residents.”