The Hawaii Supreme Court agreed to hear a complaint questioning the residency status of Ron Gonzales, who in 2014 unsuccessfully challenged Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille for the District 9 county council seat.
The Hawaii Supreme Court agreed to hear a complaint questioning the residency status of Ron Gonzales, who in 2014 unsuccessfully challenged Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille for the District 9 county council seat.
In an order dated Wednesday and signed by all five justices, the court accepted a March 29 application from Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland to consider the case against Gonzales and County Clerk Stewart Maeda. The order said no oral arguments will be taken, but parties could ask for such within 10 days.
Hyland appealed the case, first to the Intermediate Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme Court, after Maeda and then the county Board of Registration ruled in favor of Gonzales. Hyland is representing himself in the case.
The Board of Registration and the appellate court sided with Gonzales and the clerk after determining Hyland’s complaint was not filed timely. Hyland asserts he mailed it to Honolulu before the deadline, not realizing there was a Hilo address for the local Board of Registration.
“Nobody has ever addressed the real issue — the issue of whether Gonzales lived in the district,” Hyland said Wednesday.
“You know the Supreme Court doesn’t take up that many cases,” he added. “This is really astonishing.”
The state Supreme Court heard 610 cases last year, compared to some 3,807 heard by the Intermediate Court of Appeals, according to statistics published on the Judiciary website.
Gonzales and his attorney, Lincoln Ashida, said Wednesday they’re sure the Supreme Court will come to the same conclusion as the other ruling bodies.
“We prevailed before the Board of Registration; we prevailed before the Intermediate Court of Appeals,” Ashida said. “We’re confident that after the Supreme Court hears the same evidence, they’ll come to the same conclusion and Mr. Gonzales will prevail.”
Ashida also said the case is moot, as the election is long over. Gonzales said he has no plans to run for election this year.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Christopher Schlueter, who represents Maeda, could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.
The complaint questioned whether Gonzales planned to move permanently to Waikoloa, or was just using the Waikoloa address as a convenience so he could run in District 9 instead of facing off against District 1 incumbent Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter.
At issue are Gonzales’ statements that he changed his residency earlier in 2014 to a Waikoloa address where he had rented a room since 2011, when he and his family moved to Honokaa so his children could attend Honokaa High School, his alma mater. The complaint contends Gonzales actually lives with his wife and children in Honokaa, not in the district where he was running for office.
Gonzales resigned from the Windward Planning Commission that required a North Hilo/Hamakua residence on May 1, 2014, although he apparently changed his voter registration to his Waikoloa address April 1 of that year, according to documents obtained by West Hawaii Today.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.