The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is assembling its inaugural board of directors, with six of its nine voting members being nominated this week. Even once the nominees are confirmed by the City Council, a last step in forming the new board remains: The appointed directors must name the final voting board member.

This will be a critical decision. Although the nominees bring varied professional experiences that will be useful in oversight of the $5.3 billion rail project, the board ideally should have someone with a background in urban planning or otherwise conversant in the issues presented by mass transit and the development that follows.

Last fall, the City Charter was amended to create the authority, which will handle contracts, labor agreements and property acquisition for the project. It must direct the planning, design and construction of the fixed-guideway system and oversee all aspects of its operation later.

And it must support transit-oriented developments around the rail stations, working with the community on their planning and design.

Mayor Peter Carlisle nominated three of the members: Don Horner, bank executive also recently tapped to chair the state school board; William "Buzzy" Hong, former executive director of the Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council; and Carrie Okinaga, city corporation counsel. The Council nominated three more: Ivan Lui-Kwan, an attorney and former director of the city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services; Keslie Hui, development manager for Forest City Enterprises; and Damien Kim, business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union.

Three additional members earned seats on the basis of their government posts. City and state transportation directors — now Wayne Yoshioka and Glenn Okimoto, respectively — get a vote. The current city planning and permitting director, David Tanoue, will be the nonvoting 10th member.

The Carlisle administration’s proposed budget includes $21 million for the new authority, more than half of which would be spent on hiring its staff. These are people who should have the technical training and experience to advise the new board, which also is due to hire an executive director, a primary source of professional expertise.

Carlisle also asserts that the Cabinet members on the board contribute their own credentials as well. While that’s true, another transit or land-use perspective could only help in bringing enough scrutiny to bear on Hawaii’s largest public works project. Already there’s a significant challenge ahead with the current complaints over the awarding of the contract for the train cars. Now the authority needs to draw on the best minds possible as it moves forward, navigating further potentially perilous stages.