Should the public have a say in who HART hires as its permanent executive director?

Blogger and government watchdog Ian Lind earlier this week noted how the rail transit authority isn’t revealing the names of finalists for the job, and urged the news media to “flag examples of secrecy and explain how they hurt the public.”

Lind said the secret hiring process is “another one of those crazy situations where someone is applying for a public position that could earn them close to a half-million a year and where they will be constantly subject to the state’s sunshine law, but immediately request special consideration to stay out of the public spotlight.”

Last night, KHON reporter Gina Mangieri had a report on how the public might not even learn the name of the board’s actual selection for the job until it’s too late.

The first two grafs from her story:

The city’s top-paid city job will soon be filled — the head of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. But public feedback won’t be possible before the offer is made.

HART says the public will get to weigh in at its open meeting next week but, according HART’s own plan, a contract will have been finalized, even a start date agreed to, before that. Both rail supporters and critics say that’s out of order.

Read and watch the full KHON story here: Top city hire to be picked without public input