Council hears tough questions as city nominates Kevin Auger to lead new Housing and Land Management department

Kevin Auger, the mayor's nominee to lead the new Department of Housing and Land Management, told the Honolulu City Council on Thursday that housing is an administration priority and that his office intends to move rapidly to create a pipeline of new units — but several council members pressed him for clearer plans on communication, community engagement and project financing.

Auger, introduced during the meeting as “director designate of the Department of Housing and Land Management,” said the department was formally established May 1 and has been building capacity since. “Working closely together with council members and your staffs is a paramount priority for us,” Auger said, and described three priorities he planned to present to the council committee: the department’s new housing platform, the department’s strategic plan and a follow-up on activities completed since January.

Council members asked detailed questions about where the department was in executing that strategy. Council member Tupelo asked Auger to list the three items he would present to the housing committee; Auger answered: the recently established platform, the strategic plan and progress under that plan. Council member Okimoto and others sought a more specific timetable for actions and for district-level coordination, saying they had seen development proposals appearing in district plans without prior council or neighborhood engagement. “If we're gonna suggest that there's housing in a particular council member’s district, that should be a collaborative plan with us and with the community,” Council member Tupelo said.

Auger described a six-part strategic approach the department had been pursuing: aligning development with rail/transit-oriented areas; building a new organizational platform for the department; identifying city-owned land for housing; developing alternative financing approaches; reviewing city policies for effectiveness; and developing analytical tools with the University of Hawaii’s economic research arm. He said the department had identified 10 city parcels that could accommodate “2,500 to 3,000 units” of housing and intended to issue requests for qualifications (RFQs) for all 10 parcels before the end of the year.

On questions about financing, Auger said the city has issued roughly $140 million of private activity bonds this year and is pairing them with low-income housing tax credits — federal tax-advantaged credits that have been a major source of affordable housing financing nationally since the Tax Reform Act of 1986. He said the administration was also working with outside experts (the Center for Public Enterprise and UHERO were named in council remarks) to build additional financing models and planned to deliver a model by year-end.

Council members also pressed Auger about departmental communication. Council member Cordero and others said they often learned about sites or solicitations from the media or constituents rather than directly from the department. Auger replied that the department had sent notification letters and planned additional briefings, and that new staff — including a director of housing policy — was reaching out to council offices.

Public witnesses generally supported Auger’s nomination and urged the council to advance it so the department could continue its work. Perry Errol Smith, director of policy at the nonprofit Housing Hawaii’s Future, testified that Auger had engaged nonprofits for input and vowed to continue collaboration; two disability advocates asked that the department consider accessible units in future planning.

The council referred the nomination (Resolution 25-206) to committee for further review, and committee consideration was scheduled to follow the standard confirmation process. That referral means the council will hear the nomination and hold a committee hearing before a final confirmation vote.

Discussion versus action: the council did not confirm Auger at this meeting; members questioned and directed staff-level follow-up and the nomination was formally referred to committee. No policy was adopted in this session.

Ending: The council hearing laid out the department’s early strategy and highlighted points of friction: council members demanded clearer district-level engagement and more precise short-term milestones, while the director-designate stressed rapid action on a pipeline of city-owned sites and on financing models. The nomination will return to committee, where members said they expect more detailed briefings on RFQs, financing proposals and community outreach plans.