Eileen Anderson (October 18, 1928 – November 3, 2021) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii from 1981 to 1985. She was the first woman to hold the office. A Democrat, Anderson served in various positions in the city and county and the state. She was the first Hawaii State Director of Budget and Finance. Early life Anderson attended the University of California in Los Angeles and, after moving to Hawaii with her family, graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Anderson married Clifford F. Anderson, a retired Honolulu Police Department major. She and her husband raised three children. After working for Hawaiian Telephone Company, the predecessor of the present-day Hawaiian Telcom, Anderson began public service in various state agencies. She found herself as the state's first budget and finance director under Governor George Ariyoshi. Mayor of Honolulu In 1980, Anderson defeated popular incumbent Frank Fasi with seventy percent of the vote. With the unpredicted surprise landslide victory against Fasi and his notoriously powerful machine, that year Anderson was named Hawaii Business Magazine "Woman of the Year 1980". Anderson served a single term at Honolulu Hale, taking office on January 2, 1981 and leaving office in 1985. Anderson's tenure as mayor was highlighted by her promise to continue development of the island of Oahu but with fiscal responsibility. Anderson was a member of the United States Conference of Mayors, an organization of mayors of United States cities with populations of 30,000 people or more. Cabinet Prominent members of Anderson's administration included Bob Awana as administrative director and chief of staff, later chief of staff to Linda Lingle, the first Hawaii Republican governor after forty years of Democrat dominance in the state. Awana helped run Anderson's failed re-election campaign against Fasi. Anderson appointed Andy Chang as managing director of Honolulu. Chang would continue to serve the city and county in various capacities after Anderson's departure from office. Honolulu Area Rail Rapid Transit Anderson's vow of fiscal responsibility was maintained in her cancellation of the Honolulu Area Rail Rapid Transit project, which was planned in the 1970s and close to construction approval. Popularly known as HART, the project in its original form would have built a heavy rail system with twenty-three miles of track featuring twenty-one stations from Pearl City in central Oahu to Hawaii Kai in East Oahu.