Twenty-seven candidates, including former elected officials, past political candidates and former public officials, have submitted their names for consideration to fill the vacancy on the City Council created by the election of Charles Djou to Congress.

The candidates are to be vetted tomorrow at a special hearing of the City Council's Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee.

All candidates have been asked to prepare a presentation on their community activities and their individual policy positions on various city projects such as roads, sewers and transit.

“;The Council looks forward to hearing from the candidates and selecting the best representative for the district,”; Council Chairman Todd Apo said in a news release.

Apo has said he hopes to have a candidate selected by the end of the meeting to have that person ready to be voted on and sworn in at the Council's regular monthly meeting next week.

The successor would then be seated for key Council votes that day—including a decision on the city's $1.8 billion operating budget.

Because Djou vacated the seat with less than a year left on his term, it is up to the Council to appoint a successor. If the Council cannot agree to a successor in 30 days, the appointment would fall to the mayor.

The term ends Jan. 2, and Apo has said he hopes the Council will follow past practice and select a candidate who pledges to not seek election to the full term, although there is no legal requirement to do so.

Among the candidates is Djou's choice, Honolulu attorney Jonathan Lai, although Djou said prior to leaving for Washington, D.C., that he would defer to the Council on his successor.

Lai has said he would not seek election in the fall.

Others seeking the vacancy include former Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue, former Board of Education Chairwoman Donna Ikeda, former Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen (chairman of the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board) and former state Reps. Brian Yamane and Carl Takamura.