Posted on: Thursday, December 30, 2004

Lingle to choose a new legislator

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

It will be up to Gov. Linda Lingle to name a replacement for state Rep. Sol Kaho'ohalahala, who yesterday announced he is resigning Jan. 6 to become executive director of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission.

The commission selected Kaho'ohalahala as its chief executive during its meeting in Wailuku yesterday. Kaho'ohalahala, 51, represents the 13th House District, which includes East Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i and Kaho'olawe.

State law bars a lawmaker from holding another state job. Lingle will have 60 days from the date of the resignation to name a successor who, like Kaho'ohalahala, must be a Democrat.

The governor's office had no comment on the matter yesterday. Kaho'ohalahala said he is recommending that Mele Carroll, an executive assistant to Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa, replace him.

Carroll has held several government positions and lobbied on behalf of Maui County causes at the Legislature. Lingle said she will take the recommendation under advisement, he said.

Kaho'ohalahala in November was elected to a third two-year term in the state House. He was slated to be chairman of the new Committee on Hawaiian Affairs.

Like several members on the commission, Kaho'ohalahala is a longtime member of the Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana, an activist group formed in 1976 to protest the use of the island for target bombing and other military exercises. The new job, he said, will be "like coming full circle."

Reach Gordon Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.