Rick Blangiardi, who will be sworn in as the chief executive officer of the City and County of Honolulu on Saturday, ran on the campaign message “It’s about you.”

It was messaging that sought to ensure voters that what he most cared about are the things important to citizens and not himself.

While Blangiardi was very light on details about what he would do once he got into Honolulu Hale, he did identify the following as his top five priorities:

• rebuilding Honolulu’s economy after COVID-19;
• stronger action to help the homeless;
• get real on rail;
• fast-tracking housing projects locals can afford; and
• neighborhood safety and first responders.

It’s a good list. Now, with a solid mandate from voters, the former television executive turned mayor must deliver.

We wish Blangiardi the best but offer some suggestions to help his administration do its job and, by extension, help us do ours.

Talk To Us

Blangiardi the candidate was accessible to the media when he needed to tell his story and persuade voters. Blangiardi the mayor-elect has been less available, speaking through press releases and spokespersons and often declining comment altogether such as on troubling developments within the Honolulu Police Department.

The former head of Hawaii News Now (our media partner) should not need to be reminded of the essential role the media plays in our society, of course. But we hope that he will pick up the phone when reporters and editors call, and that he makes his Cabinet and other appointees easily accessible as well.

The relationship between the press and top elected officials is, understandably, at times adversarial. But the best way to improve that relationship is through honest, open communication. It almost never serves the public or an administration well for journalists to be forced to repeat in story after story, “The mayor did not respond to media inquiries.”

We are not always going to like the decisions you make, and you are not always going to like what we report and opine on. But we are in the same business, after all: serving the public.   

Be Transparent With Us

Civil Beat is quite adept at filing public records requests, just as government officials can be quite adept at delaying and even denying those requests. But we should not have to endlessly make those requests, even though some records may prove embarrassing.

They are called “public” records because, with few exceptions, they are in the public interest and — never forgot this, please — taxpayer-funded.

Blangiardi inherits a huge plate of issues that frustrated his predecessor and that are only exacerbated by the continuing pandemic and its negative impact on the economy.

While vaccines are now being administered and tourism arrivals have ticked up, no one really expects Oahu and the state to emerge from these crises anytime soon.

Tough calls are going to have to be made, and soon. Blangiardi will also have a City Council with five new members out of nine. They will have their own ambitions and concerns.

Already there are some moves by the mayor-elect that seem questionable.

While the Cabinet and leadership team announced Tuesday include a few carryovers from the Caldwell administration, obviously qualified nominees and some intriguing picks entirely new to city hall, naming a former leader of a pro-development lobbying organization to lead the Department of Planning and Permitting gives us pause.

Perhaps that problematic part of Dean Uchida’s background will be offset by his time as an executive with a major homebuilder and the land division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. We’ll know soon enough.

Rick Blangiardi may continue to preach how “it’s about you,” but as he will soon discover, the attention on the new mayor — nearly all of it — will also be about him.

For our part, we will be watching, asking and reporting. Happy New Year.