1. OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU
530 SOUTH KING STREET, ROOM 300 HONOLULU, HAWAII 96813
PHONE: (808) 768-4141 FAX: (808) 768-4242 INTERNET: www.honolulu.pov
PETER B. CARLISLE DOUGLAS S. CHIN
MAYOR MANAGING DIRECTOR
CHRYSTN K. A. EADS
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR
June 21, 2011
The Honorable Nestor R. Garcia, Chair
and Members
Honolulu City Council
530 South King Street, Room 202
Honolulu, Hawai’i 96813
Dear Chair Garcia and Councilmembers:
For the reasons stated below, I have vetoed Bill 33(2011), CD2, FD2 and Bill 34
(2011), CDI, FD2, relating to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation transit funds
and operating and capital budgets.
Less than a year ago the electorate of Honolulu was asked if it would approve a
charter amendment establishing the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (“HART” or
1
“the authority”). It was to be a semi-autonomous entity with a policy-making board of
professionals that would remove the vagaries of the election cycle, individual political
ambition and favoritism from the rapid transit project. The passage of this amendment by a
significant margin no doubt resulted from a desire by the people to address head-on the
suspicion and mistrust surrounding the project caused in no small part by its cost and
infrastructure. It remains a project the scope of which this state has not experienced in its
history.
A semi-autonomous transit authority is a concept I support wholeheartedly. I share
with the majority of the public a clear vision of the tremendous benefit to the city of building
the rapid transit system and its transit-oriented residential and commercial development in
the urban corridor, leaving our open spaces open. Having already made the decision to
pursue this elevated rail system, Honolulu as a community wants to see this project done in
the most professional, transparent, and cost-effective manner possible. I promised the
people of Honolulu I would see to that on my watch. I intend to fulfill that promise, and the
formation of HART as authorized in Article 17 and the ability of the individuals appointed to
the HART board are key components in honoring that promise.
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Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu (2000), as amended (herein “RCH” or “charter”). The
amendment is now Article XVII, Rapid Transit Authority (“Article 17”).

2. The Honorable Nestor R. Garcia, Chair
and Members
June 21, 2011
Page 2
The proposed charter amendment presented to the people on the 2010 ballot gave to
the ten-member HART board the authority to control the transit funds and, after public
hearings, to adopt its operating and capital budgets while still maintaining transparency and
accountability to our federal, state and local governments. The people by plebiscite
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overwhelmingly adopted the charter amendment, now denominated Article 17, and HART is
slated to launch on July 1.
Article 17 exclusively empowers HART or “the authority,” among other things, to: (1)
prepare annual operating and capital budgets for the fixed guideway system and the
authority, RCH § 17-1 03(2)(g); (2) have management and control over the moneys made
available to the authority in the special transit fund established to receive the county
surcharge on state tax, RCH § 17-1 08; (3) receive and expend federal funds authorized for
the planning, construction, and operation and maintenance of fixed guideway system
projects, RCH § 17-108.
The HART Executive Director, among other things, is exclusively empowered to: (1)
prepare the annual operating and capital budgets of HART, RCH § 17-104(h); (2) request,
and accept appropriations from the city and request and accept grants, loans and gifts from
other persons and entities. RCH § 17-104(l).
The HART board of directors, among other things, is exclusively empowered to: (1)
review, modify as necessary, and adopt annual operating and capital budgets submitted by
the executive director of the authority, RCH § 17-1 03(3)(b); (2) submit a line-item
appropriation request for each of its proposed operating and capital budets for the ensuing
fiscal year to the council through the office of the mayor by December Is of each year, RCH
§ 17-106.
Council points to RCH § 17-I 06 which enables the council to review and approve
HART’s line-item appropriation requests as its authority for enacting Bills 33 and 34. But
when read in pan materia with the rest of Article 17, specifically the sections cited above,
that reliance is misplaced. First, since the transit authority has control over the transit funds
in Article 17, it need not request appropriation of those funds, and council could not grant the
request if it did. Therefore, appropriations referred to in RCH § 17-106 must of necessity
refer to money requested from the city, i.e., from the general fund over which council has
control and HART does not. Second, the authority afforded to council by charter to approve
HART’s line-item appropriation requests does not support what council has done here, which
is to unilaterally develop and enact its own HART budgets. Third, while Article 17 limits
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2
There are many safeguards built into the legislation, and these are summarized in Mayor’s Message No. 74 (2011),
dated May 17, 2011, incorporated herein by reference.
RCH § 17-106 reads in its entirety: The board shall fix and adjust reasonable rates and charges for the fixed
guideway system so that the revenues derived therefrom, in conjunction with revenues received from the general
excise and use tax surcharge, from the federal government, and from the revenue-generating properties of the
authority, shall be sufficient or as nearly sufficient as possible, to support the fixed guideway system and the
authority. The authority shall submit a line-item appropriation request for each of its proposed operating and capital
budgets for the ensuing fiscal year to the council through the office of the mayor by December 1st of each year. The
office of the mayor shall submit the authority’s line-item appropriation requests without alteration or amendment. The
council shall, with or without amendments, approve the authority’s appropriation requests.
See, CR 152 (2011), “Budget Chair Martin clarified that the City Council and not the City Administration initiated Bill

3. The Honorable Nestor R. Garcia, Chair
and Members
June 21, 2011
Page 3
council’s role in HART’s budgets to the approval of line-item appropriation requests, it
expressly grants the power to prepare and adopt HART’s operating and capital budgets to its
executive director and board of directors. Fourth, in light of the charter provisions that vest in
HART control and management of the transit fund and the authority to prepare and adopt
operating and capital budgets, the provisos in Bills 33 and 34 are of particular concern in that
they fundamentally change and contradict the terms of the charter without a charter
amendment by the voters.
Bills 33 and 34, by which council assumes control over the transit funds and the
operating and capital budgets and all appropriations therein, attempt to amend the charter by
ordinance. It is axiomatic that the charter may not be amended by ordinance, nor may an
ordinance change or limit the effect of the charter, and an ordinance that conflicts with an
express provision of the charter is invalid.
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There is every preliminary indication that the board members chosen both by the
council and by the mayor take very seriously their fiduciary duty to build and operate the
rapid transit system honestly, transparently, on time and within budget. Moreover, the board
members recognize the importance of engaging the public, the mayor and the council, and
have expressed a willingness and desire for frequent and open discussion toward that end. I
have no doubt they will fulfill the mission for which you and I appointed them: to
professionally guide the rapid transit project within the confines of Article 17, honoring the
goals of honest stewardship, cost-efficiency and transparency. Council need only give them
a chance.
Bills 33 and 34 undermine the very purpose of the charter amendment therefore I
have vetoed them. I note further that the Corporation Counsel has refused to approve these
bills as to form and legality. I would urge the Council to reconsider its position on Bills 33
and 34 and let the vetoes stand.
Very truly yours,
ic2/6 Z/
eter B. Carlisle
Mayor
33.” See, CR 153 (2011) for the same ‘clarification’ as to Bill 34. The charter does not contain authorization for
council to initiate any budget other than the legislative budget. RCH § 3-1 11.
Fasi v. City Council, 2 Hawai’i 513, 518-19, 823 P. 2d 742, 744 (1992), “A basic tenet of municipal corporation law
is that an ordinance which conflicts with an express provision in a charter is invalid. The proposition is self-evident
that an ordinance must conform to, be subordinate to, not conflict with, and not exceed the charter, and can no more
change or limit the effect of the charter than a legislative act can modify or supersede a provision of the constitution
of the state.” (Ellipses in original.)