Posted on: Tuesday, April 6, 2004

Nominees OK'd after ruling on running

Advertiser Staff

A Senate committee yesterday endorsed the nominations of two Lingle administration appointees, weeks after the committee chairwoman held up the vote because the nominees said they may run for political office.

Last month Senate Water, Land and Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Inouye postponed a committee vote on the nominations of Keoki Leong to the Kane'ohe Bay Regional Council and Cynthia Rezentes to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. Both had expressed an interest in running for office this year.

Inouye, D-1st (Hamakua, N. Hilo), had said she wanted a state attorney general's opinion about whether members of state boards and commissions must resign their posts before filing nomination papers for political office and, if that was the case, she would recommend the committee not support the nominations.

Yesterday, Inouye said an opinion from the attorney general's office said state board and commission members must resign if they are elected to political office. She said she still feels uncomfortable about confirming appointees who might leave their post this year, but that she decided to "let it go." The committee voted 3-0 to endorse the nominations.

"Time is running out," Inouye said. "I didn't want the creation of a vacancy to be on my not confirming a person. If I had time, perhaps if it was earlier in the session, perhaps I could have denied it, but I think that the commissions need to fulfill their obligations."