Everyone seems to like Dan Grabauskas, particularly the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board of directors.

On Thursday, the 10-member HART board gave Grabauskas a $35,000 bonus as part of his first annual performance review, boosting his overall pay for the year from $245,000 to $280,000. He also gets $42,000 for housing and transportation.

Needless to say, this makes him the city’s highest paid employee. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, for instance, only earns $136,428, which is even less than the $200,016 salary allocated for the city medical examiner.

Grabauskas is the executive director and CEO of HART and is charged with overseeing the construction of the city’s highly controversial $5.2 billion rail project that will run from East Kapolei to the Ala Moana shopping center. It’s the largest public works project in the state’s history.

When the results of Grabauskas’ performance evaluation were announced, HART board members applauded the man who came to Honolulu via Boston.

“On a personal note,” said HART Chairwoman Carrie Okinaga, “I just want to thank you, Dan, for everything you’ve done.”

Grabauskas was hired in February 2012, a tumultuous time for the rail project. There was a lot public angst over rail and former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano was running for mayor trying to kill the project.

A handful of lawsuits, including one filed by Cayetano himself, aimed to do the same. The Hawaii Supreme Court eventually halted construction on the project, causing millions of dollars in delays.

But if you read Grabauskas’ 11-page memo to the HART board that he prepared as a part of his evaluation, he said he handled each of these challenges as best he could, especially as a newcomer to islands who took over a project with decades worth of baggage.

“There has been much to react to this past year,” Grabauskas said, referencing the various political and legal obstacles. “While these challenges were at times exhausting and nerve-wracking, they fostered a ‘strong collaborative working relationship with an engaged 10-member Board of Directors’ that has laid a strong foundation for the future.”

The HART board judged Grabauskas on dozens of criteria, two of the most important being whether he could successfully get $1.55 billion in federal funding and commence construction on the project.

Grabauskas was successful in both endeavors, with construction beginning in April 2012 and the federal funds being granted in December. But he also highlighted other successes of his tenure. In particular, he focused on transparency and cutting unnecessary costs.

“I can say confidently that HART’s enhanced transparency is one of the hallmarks of this past year,” Grabauskas said. “The Board pronounced transparency a top priority and I have worked diligently and creatively with our staff to make HART a more open and accessible organization to elected officials, to the media and ultimately to the people of the City and County of Honolulu.”

He said HART posted more than 150,000 pages of documents on its website under his watch. The agency also cut “unnecessary, duplicative or ineffective” expenses from the public relations budget, something the Honolulu City Council pushed him to do.

There’s very little criticism of himself in his letter to the board. For instance, there are only passing references to HART’s first financial audit that found that nearly $2 billion had been misplaced on the books. While the money didn’t disappear — it was more of a paper trail problem that stemmed from creating a new government agency — it still raised questions about financial oversight. Aside from that snafu, Grabauskas said the overall conclusions of the audit were “favorable” and that the goal is to have a flawless audit in the coming fiscal year.

HART director Keslie Hui, who chairs the Human Resources Committee, said Thursday that the board plans to prepare a comprehensive report on Grabauskas’ evaluation, but that general it has been pleased with his performance over the past year.

“He hit all the marks which were under his control,” Hui said. “We can confidently state that the board was happy with Dan’s performance.”

The HART board is now developing new performance measures for Grabauskas for the coming year.

Grabauskas suggested several of his own, including focusing on completing the archaeological work needed to comply with the state Supreme Court ruling and cutting down on any delay claims from contractors who have been idled because of a stop in construction.

Read Grabauskas’ performance objectives and personal evaluation here: