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Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi waded into the ongoing dispute between the chief executive of the city rail project and members of her board of directors Tuesday by publicly urging the board to extend the employment contract of rail CEO Lori Kahikina.

In a memo to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board members on Tuesday, Blangiardi also urged the board to “cooperate with the Mayor and Managing Director in the investigation of alleged bullying and harassment of the CEO by the HART Board.”

However, that investigation was requested by the board itself, according to Honolulu Deputy Communications Director Ian Scheuring. Kahikina publicly during an interview on the Hawaii News Now “Spotlight Now” program last month.

Specifically, Kahikina described being “yelled at so publicly” by board Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa during a heated exchange on April 12 over the resignation of Project Manager Nate Meddings.

Board members considered Meddings to be critical to the project, and what she did to try to keep him on the job. Kahikina said on the “Spotlight Now” program that “I don’t think anyone wants to work in that kind of environment.”

When asked if she considered the incident to be “workplace bullying,” Kahikina replied: “And harassment, yes. It’s not a respectful workplace, which the city has those policies, non-workplace violence, non-hostile workplace, and respectful workplace. Yes.”

Hanabusa did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday, and HART Human Resources Committee Chairwoman Michele Chun Brunngraber declined to comment.

The discord within HART comes as the $9.9 billion city rail project has reached a critical juncture. HART is midway through the process of soliciting proposals and awarding a contract to build the elevated rail line and stations through the city center.

That City Center Guideway and Stations contract is expected to cost about $1.3 billion, and will finally extend the rail line into the city’s densely developed Kalihi and downtown neighborhoods.

Blangiardi’s memo to the board praised the work by city officials in recent years to advance rail, which is the largest public works project in the history of the state.

He urged everyone involved to “conduct all HART business in a professional and respectful manner, even when there is disagreement between HART leadership and the HART Board.”

The current board has used its public meetings to dig into the details of the project, and board members have questioned Kahikina’s performance on a number of fronts in recent years.

The board’s annual evaluation of Kahikina cited an array of shortcomings in her performance, including a claim that she restricted the board’s access to important information.

The evaluation, which was released publicly in April, also expressed alarm at HART’s ongoing difficulties recruiting and retaining staff. According to a mid-May report to the board, HART has 98 positions but only 41 are filled. HART is attempting to fill another 32 positions, the board was told.

The evaluation said that “Kahikina’s overall performance is viewed positively,” but Kahikina replied with a written defense of her performance.

She cited the progress the rail project has made recently, including opening the first segment of the rail line to the public and securing a new grant agreement with the Federal Transit Administration.

In his memo, Blangiardi urged the board to “suspend all public discussion of personnel matters subject to investigation, except within the context of public and open HART Board meetings in which both the HART CEO and the HART Board may speak and conduct business.”

Kahikina’s is paid $275,000 per year, and her three-year contract is scheduled to end at the end of this year. Blangiardi urged the board to provide her with a multi-year contract extension.

“By this Memorandum, as CEO of the City and County of Honolulu, I am calling on the HART CEO, HART staff and HART Board to prioritize this transformative taxpayer-funded project and put personal differences aside,” he wrote.

Read the mayor’s memo: