HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi says when it comes to the safety of the public, the buck stops with him. And if he’s in charge of that, he should have the power to choose who he wants leading the police department. So he’s calling for a big change.
Right now, the Honolulu Police Commission is in charge of hiring and firing the police chief. But Mayor Blangiardi says it doesn’t make sense for him not to have a say.
“If you’re gonna hold the mayor responsible, then give him the commiserate authority,” said Blangiardi. “Not having the authority has led to problems that we just recently went through.”
The last chief, Joe Logan, lasted only three years before retiring. But he’s suing the city to get paid for the final two years of his contract.
So the city’s managing director submitted a proposal to change the city charter – to have the commission provide three finalists and give the Mayor authority to hire and fire the chief.
“This selection process has been doing the same thing over and over for decades, and it’s pretty clear right now that it’s not working and it needs to be changed,” said Nick Schlapak, SHOPO President.
Before Logan, Susan Ballard was chief for less than four years. She retired after losing the support of both the mayor and the police commission. Before her, Louis Kealoha was chief for eight years before being forced to retire while under investigation.
He was convicted of federal conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges. And before Kealoha, Boisse Correa lasted for one five-year term before the commission decided not to renew his contract.
“To have all of this happening at the same time, I think, underscores problems throughout the entire selection process,” said Schlupak. “And so even though it’s difficult to make a choice right now, I think it’s a good thing that people are expanding their viewpoints and their opinions regarding how to go about this.”
“That is completely asinine and a crossover and abuse of checks and balances of power,” said Camron Hurt, Common Cause Hawaii program manager. “So now you want to move out the symbolic check and power to give straight authority to the Mayor? We say no.”
“Well, I think the checks and balances in government give the Mayor and the city council the discretion to choose the commission, and the commission chooses the chief,” said Andria Tupola, Honolulu city councilmember. “So there is a little bit of influence, but it’s not direct influence. Direct influence could have too much of a political leaning, whereas indirect influence is like suggestion commissioners and letting them have the autonomy. It lends to a more public process, which I think everyone wants, for such a high position in the city.”
“This is not a political thing,” said Blangiardi. “This is about leadership. This is about important leadership for the safety and well-being of and our number one priority in this city, it’s not about politics.”
The HPD commission chair says he hasn’t had a chance to review the proposal. HPD says it is aware of the proposal. In a statement, Interim Deputy Chief Aaron Takasaki-Young said, “HPD will continue to remain focused on public safety and the department’s mission while supporting a fair and transparent process.”
“At the end of the day, there is a lot of people that we could glean insight from,” said Tupola. “And I will say that I’ve been scrutinizing the police commission in public about being very careful through this process to cross all the T’s, dot all the I’s. I know they wanna do a good job.”
This change is far from happening. The city’s charter commission must first process the more than 250 proposals it has received. It will then review to see which proposals actually make the ballot come next election. And then it must be approved by voters. So even Blangiardi acknowledges that even if this were to happen, he won’t even be mayor anymore.
“I absolutely believe that the mayor, who has the ultimate responsibility of the safety, public safety of the city, should have the authority to have a voice in who becomes the chief of police,” said Blangiardi.