Mayor of Hawaii

The Mayor of Hawaii is the chief executive officer of the County of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii. He or she has municipal jurisdiction over the Big Island of Hawaii. The current mayor is Harry Kim. [ [http://www.hawaii-county.com/mayor/mayors01.htm County of Hawaii — Mayor] , Hawaii County, 2005. Accessed 2007-08-05.]

History

Hawaii County began electing a mayor in 1968 when the present form of charter government was instituted. For most of the 20th century, elected members of the Board of Supervisors, precursor to the Hawaii County Council, chose a chairman, and that chairman was essentially the chief operating officer of Hawaii County. That changed in 1964, a year after Act 73 of the 1963 Legislature enabled counties to draft their own charters. Former Honolulu deputy County Corporation Counsel Shunichi Kimura was elected the last County Chairman in 1964 and elected its first mayor in 1968. Bruce McCall (1976), Megumi Kon (1984) and Larry Tanimoto (1990) all filled out the last few months of their predecessor's terms, in the case of Tanimoto, for Bernard Akana, who died of cancer less than two years into his term. Lorraine Inouye then won a special election to serve out Akana's last two years.

Past Mayors

References