Parks committee advances Laura H. Thielen confirmation after review of maintenance, programs

The Honolulu City Council Committee on Parks voted by voice consent to report Resolution 25-18 out for adoption, confirming Laura H. Thielen as director of parks and recreation for the City and County of Honolulu, after Thielen summarized the department's past four years and plans for the next term.

Thielen told the committee she prioritized reorganizing maintenance operations and expanding proactive repair programs. “The full value of parks is not just the spaces. It's the meeting places, the gathering places, the recreational opportunities, the educational opportunities, the social opportunities,” Director Laura H. Thielen said, describing parks as more than physical grounds.

Thielen outlined administrative changes taken during her first term, including splitting an oversized district that previously spanned Mililani, Pearl City, Ewa and the Leeward Coast into two districts, and adding a garbage crew and a mowing crew to improve maintenance equity across Central and West Oahu. She said 11 of 13 mid- and higher-level managers were new in the past four years and that staffing turnover presented both challenges and opportunities to update department practices.

On capital maintenance, Thielen said the department shifted from project-by-project contracting to a master-agreement approach using federal COVID-era funds and worked with the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services to enable consecutive work orders under a single contract. She listed completed roof reconstructions at Pearl City Gym, Booth Gym, Kaneohe Gym, Halawa Gym and Central Oahu Regional Park, and said the department completed work on 16 roofs in Ho'omaluhea.

Thielen said the department finalized a professional services contract this year to build an asset-management database that will tie into work orders so repairs and replacements are scheduled proactively. “Once we create a database to put this into a software program, it should tie into our work orders,” she said. She also announced that Maintenance Support Services (MSS) has been elevated from a section to a division and that the department will add another work program manager to handle more projects.

Thielen described programmatic priorities including standards for the Summer Fun youth program, expanded Kupuna programming needs assessments, the Adopt-a-Park program, community forestry and community gardens. She cited partnerships such as dune restoration at Kailua Beach Park with “UHC grama and the Department of Land and Natural Resources,” and said she and staff are pursuing federal funding avenues that can be used for routine repairs without full historic-preservation review.

Committee members asked about interagency coordination and community engagement. Thielen said the department is formalizing communication with the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and working on better written information for capital improvement projects so communities receive coordinated updates. She acknowledged limits where DDC manages major construction contracts and does not vest contract documents with Parks, but said she hopes improved systems will reduce delays in public replies.

Edward Hayden, who introduced himself as deputy director for parks, spoke briefly about getting up to speed with department operations in his third month on the job.

A remote testifier, Angela Melody Young, offered support for Thielen's confirmation, saying Thielen demonstrated operational knowledge about park uses and logistics. “She seems like a really good director to know things like, oh, Moiliili is like a very busy field,” Young said.

Chair DeBola closed public testimony and recommended that Resolution 25-18 be reported out for adoption; no committee member voiced reservations and the chair ordered the recommendation adopted by the committee.

The committee indicated plans for future presentations laying out the parks committee's priorities for the year and for continued coordination with the parks commission and department staff. The meeting adjourned after the committee acted on the confirmation recommendation.