A recall petition is being initiated against convicted Honolulu City Councilman Andy Mirikitani to oust him from office before his Dec. 4 sentencing. ’98 opponent Kaapu starts
Mirikitani recall effortGordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comIt is questionable, however, whether the goal is logistically possible given the deadlines for a recall to occur.
The effort is being started by Kekoa Kaapu, who has said he will run for Mirikitani's seat when it becomes vacant. Kaapu was a councilman in the 1960s and 1970s and ran unsuccessfully against Mirikitani in 1998.
Kaapu said he is frustrated that state law allows Mirikitani to remain in office until December even though the he was convicted by a federal jury on July 3 of receiving kickbacks from aides who received bonuses.
Four of Mirikitani's eight colleagues, Gov. Ben Cayetano and Mayor Jeremy Harris have advised him to resign. But Mirikitani issued a statement saying he would remain on the City Council, and on Wednesday he attended his first Council meeting since his conviction.
"I think everyone has said Andy has a right not to resign because that's the law," Kaapu said. "But I say the voters of our district have a right under the charter to determine if they want a special election."
City Clerk Genny Wong said Kaapu must obtain no less than 4,218 signatures from registered voters from Mirikitani's 5th Council District, an area that includes Manoa, Makiki, McCully-Moiliili and Ala Moana.
The City Charter stipulates that the number of signatures be at least 10 percent of the number registered to vote in his district in the last Council election. There were 42,179 registered when Mirikitani beat Russ Francis in a runoff election in November 1998.
Kaapu said he is hoping to turn in about 4,700 signatures by the middle of August, or the end of the month at the latest. Wong would then have 20 working days, about a month, to verify the signatures. Assuming the petition is valid, Wong would then need to notify Mirikitani that he has the option to resign within 10 days or face a recall election.
If Mirikitani refused to resign, a special election would need to be held no less than 30 days but no more than 90 days from the 10-day period. Wong said if Kaapu files his petition by the end of August, the earliest the charter would allow her to hold a recall election is around Nov. 11. The latest date would be Jan. 11. Wong doubts she would be ready to hold an election by early November and is uncertain when it could be held.
"It remains to be seen," she said, noting that she needs to negotiate a contract with election vendors, procure polling places, recruit poll workers and train them before any election can take place. A recall election would cost the city between $225,000 and $250,000.