HAWICA: Holdover Land Use Commissioner Not Disqualified
by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation.com
In a short opinion, in Sierra Club v. Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, Inc., No. CAAP-11-0000625 (Aug. 24, 2012), the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals held that the Hawaii Senate's failure to confirm a sitting Land Use Commissioner for a second term did not disqualify him under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 26-34(a):
Kanuha was not disqualified under HRS § 26-34(a) as he had not been a commissioner appointed consecutively to more than two terms as a member of the LUC not had his membership on LUC exceeded eight consecutive years. Not obtaining Senate consent to a second term did not disqualify Kanuha from service as a holdover after the expiration of his first term. This was not a disqualification under the plain language of HRS § 26-34(a). The circuit court erred in holding that Kanuha was not a valid holdover for failure to obtain Senate confirmation for a second term.
Slip op. at 5-6.
A disqualification effort for today that does not involve Lance Armstrong. A six page published opinion from a Hawaii appellate court. Quo warranto fu. Joe Bob says check it out.
Sierra Club v. Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, Inc., No. CAAP-11-0000625 (Haw. App. Aug. 24, 2012)
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SA: Court sides against Sierra Club in reversal of Koa Ridge ruling
The Sierra Club of Hawaii's record for blocking the Koa Ridge housing project in Central Oahu on legal grounds was reduced Friday in a ruling by the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.
The appellate court reversed a July 2011 Circuit Court decision that invalidated a 2010 state Land Use Commission approval of the 5,000-home project by developer Castle & Cooke between Waipio and Mililani.
The environmental organization argued that one commissioner, Duane Kanuha, was ineligible to serve. His vote was one of six necessary yes votes for Koa Ridge's approval by the nine-member commission.
Kanuha's four-year term expired in June 2009, and the state Senate rejected his appointment to a second term in April 2010. He remained on the commission as a holdover member by Gov. Linda Lingle until early last year.
The Sierra Club argued that Kanuha's holdover status expired when he was rejected by the Senate, and Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto agreed.
But the appellate court called Sakamoto's ruling erroneous.