Mayor of Honolulu

Executive officer of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii

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Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu

Seal of the City and County of Honolulu

Incumbent
Rick Blangiardi

since January 2, 2021

Term length| 4 years
Maximum of 2 consecutive full terms[1]
Inaugural holder| Joseph James Fern
Formation| 1909
Website| Office of the Mayor

The mayor of Honolulu is the chief executive officer of the City and County of Honolulu. An office established in 1900 and modified in 1907, the mayor of Honolulu is elected by universal suffrage of residents of Honolulu to no more than two four-year terms. The City and County of Honolulu's elected officials include the mayor, the prosecuting attorney, and councilmembers representing nine districts.[1]

The mayor of Honolulu has full control over appointment and removal of administrators, is invested with absolute control over department heads, wields veto power over the Honolulu City Council and has substantial control over the budget, totaling in excess of US$1 billion.

## Honolulu Hale and other offices

[edit]

The mayor of Honolulu conducts official business from Honolulu Hale, the historic city hall building of Honolulu constructed in 1928 in classical Spanish villa architectural styles. The building is located at the northeast corner of King and Punchbowl streets in the Hawaii Capital Historic District near downtown Honolulu. Other administrative officers under the mayor of Honolulu work from separate municipal buildings on the larger civic campus of which Honolulu Hale is a part.

## Domestic policy

[edit]

From the courtyard of Honolulu Hale, the mayor of Honolulu is mandated by the City and County charters to make an annual State of the City address. In this speech, the mayor of Honolulu outlines the administrative and legislative agenda for the year. It is also a summation of the budget to be implemented compared to the budget of the previous year.

The mayor of Honolulu also organizes the major public services managed by the mayor’s office. The mayor oversees dozens of departments, including: Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Honolulu Fire Department, Honolulu Police Department and the Oʻahu Civil Defense Agency. Unlike most United States mayors, the mayor of Honolulu does not oversee any schools, a jurisdiction of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education.

## Managing director

[edit]

Assisting the mayor of Honolulu in overseeing these departments and other domestic policy issues is the managing director of Honolulu. The managing director's most important role is to serve as acting mayor in absence or resignation. The current managing director is Michael Formby.[2]

## Foreign policy

[edit]

Many people, including Jeffre Juliano and Robert K. Wrede have considered Honolulu to be the "Geneva of the Pacific" due to its commercial and trade, political and military, as well as academic influences over Asia and the Pacific Rim.[3] Honolulu is the site of several international governmental and non-governmental organizations and summits, as well as the site of high-profile multinational military exercises called RIMPAC. RIMPAC is conducted by the commander-in-chief of the United States Pacific Command whose headquarters is in Honolulu’s Salt Lake subdivision.

The uniqueness of Honolulu’s significance to the global community has forced the mayor of Honolulu to assume a constant diplomatic role that goes beyond the foreign policy roles of almost all other United States mayors. The mayor of Honolulu serves as concurrent chairman of several multinational mayoral bodies and convenes special sessions of international summits regularly.[citation needed]

## First Lady of Honolulu

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See also: Spouses of the Mayors of Honolulu

As a Hawaiian tradition, the wife of the mayor of Honolulu is honored with the ceremonial title of "First Lady of Honolulu." Honolulu is distinct in this tradition as most United States cities and towns reserve the title of "First Lady" to the wife of the state governor, the wife of the president of the United States or the wife of a visiting foreign head of government. Honolulu deemed it necessary to bestow the ceremonial title to reflect her role in relation to her husband’s extensive international responsibilities. The title is not codified in modern law but is an honorific.[citation needed]

## List of mayors of Honolulu

[edit]

No.  | Portrait  | Name  | Party affiliation  | Elected  | Term in office

|
|
|
|
|

1  |  | Joseph J. Fern
(1872–1920) |  | Democratic | 1908

* * *

1910

* * *

1912

| January 4, 1909 –
January 4, 1915
(lost re-election)
2  |  | John C. Lane
(1872–1958) |  | Republican | 1914  | January 4, 1915 –
January 4, 1917
(lost re-election)
(1)  |  | Joseph J. Fern
(1872–1920) |  | Democratic | 1916

* * *

1918

| January 4, 1917 –
February 20, 1920
(died in office)
3  |  | John H. Wilson
(1871–1956) |  | Democratic | 1920

* * *

1922

* * *

1924

| February 26, 1920 –
January 2, 1927
(lost re-election)
4  |  | Charles N. Arnold
(1880–1929) |  | Republican | 1926  | January 2, 1927 –
January 1, 1929
(lost re-election)
(3)  |  | John H. Wilson
(1871–1956) |  | Democratic | 1928  | January 1, 1929 –
January 3, 1931
(lost re-election)
5  |  | George F. Wright
(1881–1938) |  | Republican | 1930

* * *

1932

* * *

1934

| January 3, 1931 –
July 2, 1938
(died in office)
6  |  | Charles Crane
(1869–1958) |  | Republican | 1938  | July 15, 1938 –
January 2, 1941
(lost re-election)
7  |  | Lester Petrie
(1878–1956) |  | Democratic | 1940

* * *

1942

* * *

1944

* * *

1946

| January 2, 1941 –
January 2, 1949
(retired)
(3)  |  | John H. Wilson
(1871–1956) |  | Democratic | 1948

* * *

1950

* * *

1952

| January 2, 1949 –
January 2, 1955
(lost re-election)
8  |  | Neal Blaisdell
(1902–1975) |  | Republican | 1954

* * *

1956

* * *

1960

* * *

1964

| January 2, 1955 –
January 2, 1969
(retired)
9  |  | Frank Fasi
(1920–2010) |  | Democratic | 1968

* * *

1972

* * *

1976

| January 2, 1969 –
January 2, 1981
(lost re-election)
10  |  | Eileen Anderson
(1928–2021) |  | Democratic | 1980  | January 2, 1981 –
January 2, 1985
(lost re-election)
(9)  |  | Frank Fasi
(1920–2010) |  | Republican | 1984

* * *

1988

* * *

1992

| January 2, 1985 –
September 17, 1994
(resigned)
11  |  | Jeremy Harris
(born 1950) |  | Democratic | 1994

* * *

1996

* * *

2000

| September 18, 1994 –
January 2, 2005
(term limited)
12  |  | Mufi Hannemann
(born 1954) |  | Democratic | 2004

* * *

2008

| January 2, 2005 –
July 20, 2010
(resigned)
–  |  | Kirk Caldwell
(born 1952) |  | Democratic | —  | July 20, 2010 –
October 11, 2010
(lost election)
13  |  | Peter Carlisle
(born 1952) |  | Independent | 2010 sp | October 11, 2010 –
January 2, 2013
(lost re-election)
14  |  | Kirk Caldwell
(born 1952) |  | Democratic | 2012

* * *

2016

| January 2, 2013 –
January 2, 2021
(term limited)
15  |  | Rick Blangiardi
(born 1946) |  | Independent | 2020 | January 2, 2021 –
present
(incumbent)

## Notable candidates and acting mayors

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* D. G. Anderson
* Duke Bainum
* Kirk Caldwell, acting mayor of Honolulu from July to October 2010
* Charles Djou
* Colleen Hanabusa
* Ben Lee
* Patsy Mink

## Resources

[edit]

* City & County of Honolulu
* Agencies and Departments

## See also

[edit]

* Timeline of Honolulu

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Office of Elections - Elected Officials". Retrieved September 4, 2021.
2. ^ "Staff Directory". Office of the Mayor. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
3. ^ Wrede, Robert K. (March 4, 2012). "Honolulu: Geneva of the Pacific?". Pepperdine Digital Commons. Retrieved February 23, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Mayors of Honolulu, Hawaii at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Urban Honolulu

Neighborhoods|

* Chinatown
* Downtown
* Hawaii Capital Historic District
* Kaimuki
* Kāhala
* Kamehameha Heights
* Kapālama
* Kalihi
* Manoa
* McCully
* Sand Island
* St. Louis Heights
* Waikiki

Landmarks|

* Ala Moana Beach Park
* Ala Moana Center
* Aliʻiōlani Hale
* Bishop Museum
* Neal S. Blaisdell Center
* Diamond Head
* Federal Detention Center, Honolulu
* Fort Shafter
* Hawaii Convention Center
* Capitol Modern Museum
* Hawaii State Capitol
* Honolulu Hale
* Honolulu Museum of Art
* Museum School
* Honolulu Zoo
* ʻIolani Palace
* Japanese Consulate-General, Honolulu
* Kahala Mall
* Kapiolani Park
* Kewalo Basin
* No. 1 Capitol District Building
* Royal Hawaiian Hotel
* Tripler Army Medical Center
* Waikīkī Aquarium

Education|

| Public K–12|

* Royal ES
* Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani MS (formerly Central MS)
* Farrington HS
* Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind
* Kaimuki HS
* McKinley HS
* Moanalua HS
* Roosevelt HS
* Education Laboratory School

|

Private K–12|

* Assets School High School
* Damien Memorial School
* Hawaii Baptist Academy
* Hawaiian Mission Academy
* Hongwanji Mission School
* ʻIolani School
* Kamehameha Schools
* La Pietra
* Lutheran High School of Hawaii
* Maryknoll School
* Mid-Pacific Institute
* Pacific Buddhist Academy
* Punahou School
* Sacred Hearts Academy
* St. Andrew's Schools
* Saint Louis School
* Varsity International School

Closed|

* Academy of the Pacific
* Honolulu Military Academy
* Saint Francis School

Tertiary|

* University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
* Chaminade University of Honolulu
* Honolulu Community College
* Kapiʻolani Community College

Former|

* Hawaii Tokai Int'l College (moved to Kapolei)

Libraries|

* Hawaii State Library

Transportation|

* Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
* TheBus
* Skyline

Media|

* Honolulu Star-Advertiser
* Honolulu (magazine)

Religion|

* Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
* Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew
* Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus
* Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church
* Sacred Heart Church-Punahou
* Saint Anthony Catholic Church
* Saint Augustine by the Sea Catholic Church
* Saint John the Baptist Church
* Saint Patrick Catholic Church
* Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church

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