Hawaii Supreme Court justices yesterday ruled Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris can run for governor without resigning as mayor until he files nomination papers, with just one of five justices, Associate Justice Simeon Acoba Jr., writing an opinion that in part dissented from the other justices.

The Hawaii Supreme Court’s ruling reversed an earlier First Circuit Court decision that says Harris should have resigned as mayor when he filed papers to run for the office in May 2001.

The issue came before the Hawaii Supreme Court after Russell Blair, a former legislator and judge, filed a lawsuit against Harris citing the state’s resign-to-run constitutional amendment, and won, but then Harris appealed the ruling in the higher court.

State Rep. Ed Case, D-Manoa, who also is running for governor, says he wishes Harris would "make up his mind already" as to whether he will run for governor or stay as mayor for two more years. And not wait until the July 23 candidate filing deadline.

"Just because the Supreme Court said he doesn't have to resign as mayor until he files his nomination papers for governor doesn't make it the right thing to do," Case says. "The people of Hawaii are owed a decision now, not the July 23rd deadline for filing papers. If he wants to serve out the full four-year mayoral term he asked voters for and help clean up the city's budget mess, then say so and get to work. If he wants to run for governor and leave the city's problems to others, then say so and let others clean it up. Just don't sit on the fence anymore."

Case, who welcomed Harris into the race if and when he does decide to run, noted the unfairness to mayoral candidates of Harris' postponing a decision further.

"That's not fair to leave them hanging until the end; just say now what you're going to do and, if you want to be governor, resign and start campaigning as a full candidate."

Governor Spouts Off in Waning Days in Office

The governor must be feeling lonely. He’s called a series of press conferences these last few weeks, either to attack Republicans or to spout off about other issues completely unrelated to his position as governor.

Of course, he continues to avoid anything that would have helped the state economically.

He’s also continued to ignore mounting criticism from the investment and business communities around the world and from newspapers such as Investors Business Daily and the Wall Street Journal.

Scam Cam Operators Go Out With a Bang

The now notorious camera traffic enforcement fiasco -– that after tremendous public protest came to a dramatic end last month -– did not go down without a fight. There were more than 2,000 citations issued in the first week of April, meaning tickets were given out at a considerably higher pace than in months prior. ACS, the company overseeing the program, issued 3,500 citations in January, slightly more in February at 3,600, and nearly 9,700 in March.

The governor, a supporter of the program, agreed to sign a bill sent to him by the state Legislature in April repealing the program.

How much the cancellation of the contract will cost the state is still being negotiated. The state Department of Transportation Director Brian Minaai has said varying amounts from $400,000 to $8 million, but now says he estimates between $1 million and $1.5 million.

People with citations are still going to court to protest them.

Who Would You Kick Off the Planet?

In a new online poll asking participants to choose the music stars they’d most likely kick off the planet, Mariah Carey received 31 percent of the votes.

The poll, conducted on the music Web site, popdirt.com asked: "If you could remove one pop act's music from the face of the earth, who would it be?" According to United Press International reports, more than 8,000 visitors to the site voted, with Carey getting 31 percent, Jennifer Lopez getting 24 percent, and 12 percent selecting 'NSync. Britney Spears finished with 8 percent, followed by Mandy Moore at 7.5 percent and the Backstreet Boys at 3.5 percent.

How about a poll like this for politicians? We could send them to the international space station for a really long time out.

Today in Hawaii...