HONOLULU (KHON2) — Lori Kahikina, who took the helm of HART as interim CEO in Jan. 2021, has just received a multi-year contract and a pay raise.
“Lori Kahikina has excelled in leading this complex transit project over the past few years, demonstrating her leadership through a collaborative, hands-on, and proactive approach. Her contributions have been significant for the City and County of Honolulu and its taxpayers,” said Board member Roger Morton, Director of the Department of Transportation Services and Chair of the Permitted Interaction Group that negotiated Kahikina’s contract.
Her current three-year term ends on December 31, when her salary will rise to $336,000 from the $275,000 she has had since she joined HART in 2021.
“As I’ve said before, I’m very passionate about this project and am so pleased we’ve come to this agreement. Many thanks to our stakeholders, the HART ‘Ohana, and the general public for their patience and support during this process. I’m extremely proud of all the accomplishments and good work that we, as a team, have achieved together and I look forward to many more momentous milestones,” Kahikina stated in a news release.
Honolulu Mayor Blangiardi said he came into office as Kahikina was appointed and they had weekly meetings from that point on.
“You know, we knew full well that we had inherited, both of us, and given our responsibilities a project that was need of getting its act together,” Mayor Blangiardi told KHON2. “I mean, you know, the fact that we got the FTA back to the table, we had an amended FFGA to their acceptance and everything else that we’ve done and the construction, now the operating, going back a year ago, I’m really proud of Lori.”
As far as what he would like to see in Skyline’s future?
“At the very least, it should have gone into Ka Makana Ali’i, the shopping center. It just makes some sense. That makes good sense. So that would be my push. How far deep can we go into the West Side.”
Meanwhile, Kahikina told KHON2 that Skyline is on track for City Center by 2031, which is where it is contracted through. However, Kahikina said she would like to see it extended to Ala Moana and even UH.