Harris appeals ruling that he should have resigned

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

As expected, an attorney for Mayor Jeremy Harris yesterday afternoon filed an appeal of a ruling Monday that Harris should have resigned on May 15, 2001, when he filed papers indicating his plans to run for governor this fall.

Harris had been operating under the assumption that he had until July 23, the deadline for filing official candidate forms, to resign from office.

Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna had ruled that a section of the state Constitution requires candidates who hold an elective office to resign when they become a candidate for another elective office — and the two terms overlap — at the time they begin actively campaigning for the other office.

In her ruling, McKenna said Harris was 98 days into a new term as mayor last year when he announced plans to run for governor. Harris also submitted an organization report with the state Campaign Spending Commission on May 15, another indication he planned to run, McKenna said.

The case against Harris was brought by Russell Blair, a former state District Court judge and former state senator who said he was bothered by Harris declaring himself a gubernatorial candidate within months of beginning a new term as mayor.

Harris announced on Tuesday that he would suspend his campaign until the matter was resolved by the state Supreme Court.

The notice that McKenna's ruling would be appealed was filed on Harris' behalf yesterday afternoon by Robert Klein, a former state Supreme Court justice.

Klein filed the appeal notice just hours after McKenna signed off on a document indicating judgment had been rendered in the case. McKenna also granted Harris' request that no further action be taken on the matter at the Circuit Court level until the appeal is heard.

William Deeley, Blair's attorney, said there was nothing in McKenna's ruling or judgment that expressly prohibited Harris from continuing to campaign for governor.

But Deeley said he believes Harris would be violating McKenna's ruling if he resumed his campaign without first resigning. Harris has said he intends to resign after the city begins a new fiscal year, or sometime after July 1.

Marsha Kitagawa, spokeswoman for the state Judiciary, issued a statement late yesterday afternoon saying it was not possible to provide "even a general estimate" of when the Supreme Court might rule on the issue.

"A court's time frame for ruling on an appeal depends on many factors, including the complexity of the issues, possible motions for intervention, research and analysis involved, other priorities that need to be handled in the 700 other cases pending appeal in the supreme court, as well as the availability of the justices to decide the issue," Kitagawa said in the statement. "All five justices must be available to consider the issues and participate in the process of deciding the case."

Kitagawa said court decisions and significant motions in the Blair v. Harris case will be posted on the Judiciary's Web site: www.state.hi.us/jud