Opposition brief filed in Harris appeal
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A Circuit Court judge correctly ruled last month that Mayor Jeremy Harris should have resigned from office last May when he filed organizational papers with the state Campaign Spending Commission, according to a document filed yesterday in the Hawai'i Supreme Court.
The court brief was filed by attorney William Deeley on behalf of Russell Blair, a former state District Court judge and a former state senator. Blair filed a lawsuit in January, demanding that Harris resign immediately because of his announced plans to run for governor.
Harris has five days to respond to the brief, and the Supreme Court would then be able to make its ruling at any time. Attorneys for Harris could not be reached for comment yesterday on whether they will file a response.
Blair argues that the 1978 Constitutional Convention was clear when it crafted the so-called "resign-to-run" law, which Blair said requires elected officials to resign as soon as they announce plans to seek another office. Blair said he was upset that Harris declared his candidacy for governor just 98 days into his current term as mayor.
On March 11, Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna agreed with Blair and said Harris officially became a candidate for governor on May 15, 2001, when he filed an organizational report with the state Campaign Spending Commission.
McKenna's ruling was appealed to the state Supreme Court, which announced last month that it would expedite its decision.
Robert Klein, a former Hawai'i Supreme Court justice representing Harris, stated in a brief filed April 9 that the attorney general's office, courts and state Office of Elections have all operated under the premise that the law goes into effect when a candidate files nomination papers. The deadline to do so is July 23.
Klein and Deeley agreed, however, that the Supreme Court must resolve the issue as to when an elected official, not just Harris, must resign to run for a another office.
"Until they provide a fixed, definite and ascertainable line, the matter is going to continue to vex the public and and its elected officials," Deeley said yesterday.
