LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Council Chair Jay Furfaro said Tuesday that he is not seeking a nomination to the 14th District seat left vacant Monday after the state Senate confirmed Mina Morita to serve as Public Utilities Commissioner. “As the
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Council Chair Jay Furfaro said Tuesday that he is not seeking a nomination to the 14th District seat left vacant Monday after the state Senate confirmed Mina Morita to serve as Public Utilities Commissioner.
“As the senior council member, I feel that my experience and knowledge of the issues will allow me to effectively lead the council in our efforts and decision-making of several issues that are currently in front of the body,” he said in a statement.
The council will soon enter the budget process, which Furfaro will shepherd as chair of the Committee of the Whole. Given the recession, the disaster in Japan, the end of furloughs and other factors, it could prove to be an incredibly challenging year on the fiscal front.
On the seven-member legislative body’s agenda today are bills dealing with the plastic-bag ban, Sunshine Markets, county employee salaries, council rules, and the regulation of business and trades.
Furfaro’s name was immediately thrown in the rumor mill as a potential replacement for Morita, possibly because he has resided in the North Shore for 41 years and ran against Morita for the 14th District seat in 1998. The 14th District includes parts of Kapa‘a and Wailua and stretches up through the North Shore.
At that time, Kaua‘i and East Maui were linked as a canoe district. On Kaua‘i, Furfaro topped Morita by a slim margin, but lost the election after the Maui votes were counted.
Furfaro is on his fifth term at the council, and was unanimously voted on Dec. 1 by other council members to serve as chair.
“My colleagues bestowed their trust and confidence in me to lead this body through the 2010-2012 term,” he said. “I remain dedicated to serving as the council chair to the best of my ability.”
With the council chair out of the potential list of appointees, the few names left increase their chances.
Councilman Derek Kawakami said Furfaro is doing an outstanding job as council chair. “He’s definitely the right guy to be steering this council.”
Kawakami on Tuesday reiterated his interest in Morita’s now vacant seat and plans to apply for the job. “I’m going through the process to formalize that.”
Kawakami was re-elected in November to his second two-year term as a council member.
“Whatever may happen with my career path, I look up to Jay as a mentor, I look up to him as a friend and I look up to him as a role model,” he said.
North Shore resident Joel Guy may also be interested in the appointment. He has been actively involved in the community as a Charter Review Commissioner and has worked with Morita’s office when she was a state representative.
However, Guy has neither confirmed nor denied he wants Morita’s seat.
“I feel confident the district leaders will do a great job presenting the governor with three names from the district, who are most aligned with Rep. Morita’s policies and her tremendous accomplishments,” Guy said in a statement Tuesday.
Attorney Harold Bronstein’s name has also been mentioned as a possible appointee. Bronstein did not respond by press time to a message left at his Lihu‘e law office.
All interested persons should contact Kaua‘i Democratic Party’s District 14 Council chair, Susan Wilson. She can be reached through her secretary, Sandra Wright, via e-mail at sandra.wright@hawaiiantel.net or by mail at 4300 N. Waiakalua St., Kilauea, HI 96754.
State law and the party’s constitution require the District 14 Council to convene to select names of three qualified persons for Gov. Neil Abercrombie to consider in the selection process for appointment of a candidate to fill the remainder of Morita’s term.
The interested candidates have to respond to four questions, posted on the kauaidemocrats.org website, and submit them along with a statement about their interest and resume. The deadline is 5 p.m., Saturday.
Qualified persons selected by District 14 Council members will then be interviewed in a closed invitation-only meeting March 26 at the Anahola Community Center club house from 9 to 11 a.m. The council will then cast secret votes and the top three vote-getters will be sent to the Hawai‘i Democratic Party chair, Dante Carpenter, and on to the governor.
According to state law, the governor shall make an appointment within 60 days of the House seat being vacated.
For more information, call Wilson at 639-4399.
