Whew. There were more surprises yesterday than I expected.

I was prepared for Ann Kobayashi’s entry into the race for mayor. I have to wonder whether there’s any polling data to suggest that Hannemann could be vulnerable. Absent that, why Kobayashi would give up her secure seat on the council is puzzling. Hannemann would be a daunting opponent even with his $2+ million campaign account that is still growing. Kobayashi had $145,840 in the bank as of June 30, far short of what’s going to be needed for a serious island-wide campaign. And Kobayashi has not had a challenging race for some time. In 2004, she spent under $40,000 in her campaign, so ramping up for a serious mayoral bid will be an organizational as well as a financial challenge.

But Rep. Kirk Caldwell’s decision to go for Kobayashi’s council seat was a real surprise. Although well known in his House district, I don’t know that Caldwell can boast good name recognition in the rest of the larger council district. In 2004, there were under 11,000 votes cast in his House district, while the larger council district had about twice the number of voters. Bainum, on the other hand, will have high name recognition and lots of personal money to spend, although his four-year absence from the political scene is going to be grist for the opposing campaigns.

What are the residency requirements for the City Council? The City Charter says simply:

Section 3-104. Qualifications of Councilmembers —
To be eligible for election or appointment to the council, a person must be a duly qualified elector of the council district from which the person seeks to be elected. Any councilmember who removes his or her residence from the district from which the councilmember was elected or appointed shall, by that fact, be deemed to have vacated the office. (1992 General Election Charter Amendment Question No. 17)

But does that mean that you must be “a duly qualified elector of the council district” at the time of the election or when filing to run? I’m presuming it means the former, giving Bainum time to straighten out his legal residence, but could be wrong. I’m sure others are already asking the question.

I noticed that Rep. Rida Cabanilla’s office manager filed to run against her before noticing blog posts on that race by Derrick DePledge and Doug White.

We took in this scene a few mornings back just a block or so from our house. It’s a sight not everyone enjoys, nets being mended in preparation for another day’s fishing. Just another slice of life in Kaaawa.