New PR Firm To Sell Honolulu Rail? Some HART Board Members Say No
HART is already paying a public relations firm $8,000 to $9,000 per month through another arrangement with a rail consultant.
A proposal to hire a public relations representative that would answer to the board of directors of the Honolulu rail authority has stalled after several board members expressed doubts about the plan.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation included $110,000 in its budget for this fiscal year to pay for public relations for the board, but the board’s Human Relations Committee tabled that idea on Thursday after members questioned the need for another PR firm.
The authority is already paying $8,000 to $9,000 per month to the Honolulu public relations firm Pang Communications, which fields media inquiries to HART under a contract between Pang and rail project management support consultant HDR Engineering Inc.
HART CEO Lori Kahikina said that “if the board has things that they want to get out into the public, we have our existing PR firm already. You folks have already tapped into them.”
She estimated the board has used Pang Communications for PR purposes about 20 times.
HART Board Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa said last month her understanding of the PR proposal was the board wanted public relations expertise to help sell the public on the idea of continuing the $10 billion rail line beyond Kakaako to Ala Moana and beyond.
According to Hanabusa’s recollection, the idea was “what do we do and how do we do it without stepping all over ourselves.” The HART board has already created a permitted interaction group — a kind of subcommittee — to study options for extending the rail line once the current project is complete.
But Hanabusa was not present for the discussion by the Human Relations Committee on Thursday, and Kahikina said it is premature for the board to move forward with that idea.
“If the intent is for the extensions, I don’t think that is HART’s kuleana (concern or responsibility), and definitely not the HART board’s kuleana to be selling this,” Kahikina said. “We don’t even know what our authority is as far as extension goes. We are part of the puzzle, but we don’t have that authority.”
HART board member Anthony Aalto said: “I don’t think it’s our job to hire somebody to try to convince the public that they should love something that they don’t love at the moment.”
The Honolulu rail project has been plagued by vast cost overruns, and is now more than a decade behind schedule.
“If that’s the concept, that we’re going to persuade the public to like this project, I frankly think it would be a waste of money,” Aalto said.
Aalto said the HART board’s role is to complete the project as quickly and efficiently as it can so people can ride it, and predicted the system will sell itself to the public once people can use it.
Human Relations Committee chair Michele Chun Brunngraber said the issue was referred to her committee to hash out exactly what sort of public relations work is needed.
In any event, she questioned the amount of money the board earmarked for the new PR contract, saying, “I can’t see it being $110,000.”
Aalto proposed that Pang Communications brief the committee on its activities, and Brunngraber said the issue would be tabled until next month.
