Lei draped over the empty chair of Councilmember Duke Bainum at this morning’s City Council meeting,

Bainum, 56, died last night. An e-mail from his staff said Bainum died at about 11 p.m. of complications from an aneurysm.
Saddened council members today continued with the business of the day, voting on the city’s $1.8 billion budget.
“We are all very saddened over Councilman Bainum’s passing," said City Council chairman Todd Apo. "It’s a very big shock to us. We’ve all had the honor of working with Duke on his second tour of duty. He’s always committed and always ready to do what was the best for the people in his district.”
Members of his staff hung in clusters, red-eyed and obviously upset by the news.
“We’re devastated by the sudden and surprising loss,” said Mallory Fujitani, Bainum’s senior adviser. “Duke was feeling well at work yesterday and having fun chasing the kids around in the evening. He was feeling chest pains last night and was rushed to the ER, but he could not be revived.”
Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he was shocked to learn of Bainum’s death.
“I served with him on the City Council and we vied for the mayor’s seat in 2004. Throughout it all, I knew him as a man with a heartfelt desire to help others.”
Apo said the council had considered canceling today’s important meeting to vote on the budget, but members agreed that the business of the council had to go on, but Bainum’s death will “hang over us” as we go through the process.”
The council has 60 days to fill the seat, under the Honolulu City Charter. It has 10 days to set up the schedule for re-election. The council just went through this with the special election of Ikaika Anderson, who was elected to fill a vacancy created upon the sudden death of Barbara Marshall in February.
“I think whether it is Duke Bainum or Barbara Marshall, or any of us, the job of the city needs to continue,” Apo said. “We won’t do more than we need to today, but we’ll do what we’re required to do.”
Bainum won his current seat in 2008, when Ann Kobayashi stepped down to challenge Hannemann in a run for mayor.
Bainum's only opponent, then-state Rep. Kirk Caldwell, was declared ineligible by the City Clerk's office.
Bainum also served in the state House and an earlier stint on the City Council.
He ran for mayor in 2004, but lost to Hannemann. He was absent from the local political scene until last year.
Bainum was born in Maryland and raised in Arkansas.
Christened Mark Edmund Bainum, he was nicknamed Duke as a child because of his love for actor John Wayne.
After graduating from medical school, he came to Hawaii in 1980 and completed his residency at the University of Hawaii-Manoa's surgical residency program.
In the late 80s, he launched a political career in Honolulu as a member of the McCully-Moiliili Neighborhood Board.
Bainum served in the state House from 1990 to 1994, then was a member of the council from 1995 to 2003.