2006-07-14 Letter to Constance Kiriu re Hawaii's Resign to Run Law and Charter Provisions Pertaining to Vacancies in County Elected Offices

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Honorable Constance Kiriu July 14, 2006 Page 3 nomination papers for the office,which shall be ten days after the issuance of the election proclamation, or the filing deadline for the primary election, whichever comes later. The election shall be held in accordance with the election laws of the state insofar as otherwise applicable. 3. What happens if the Mayor resigns his office on July 25, 2006, the very same day he files his nomination papers for the Office of the Governor? The Managing Director shall succeed to the Office of the Mayor. The County Clerk will file an election proclamation, again following the requirements of the above-cited Charter provision. It makes no legal difference that the Mayor resign from office on the filing deadline date. 4. If the Mayor resigns to run for the Office of the Governor prior to completing his second term of mayoral office, may he run again for the Office of the Mayor in the next regular mayoral election? No. We conclude it is the intent of the Charter to require a mayor who has been elected to a second consecutive term of office to "sit out" the subsequent term of mayoral office. Article V, Chapter 1, Section 5-1.2 of the Charter provides as follows (emphasis supplied): Any citizen of the United States of America who has been a duly qualified elector of the county for at least one year immediately preceding the election as mayor shall be eligible for the office of mayor. The mayor may serve for more than two terms of office but shall not serve for more than two consecutive full terms of office. Although some may argue the phrase "two consecutive full terms of office" means the mayor must serve eight consecutive and complete years in order for this section to preclude him from running in a subsequent election, we opine such a result to be repugnant to the term limit restriction found in our Charter. I (d) Second special election. The second special election shall be held with the regularly scheduled general election. Unless a candidate has been elected in the first special election,the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for the office in question in the first special election shall be placed on the ballot for the second special election. At the second special election the candidate receiving the highest number of votes for each respective office shall be deemed elected. (Subsection (a)amended; subsections (b),(c)and (d)added 2000 Charter Amend. 1)