On the first day they could do so, three people filed nomination papers to run for the 5th Council District seat left vacant by the death of City Councilman Duke Bainum last week.

They join former Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who announced on Sunday her plans to run for the seat she once held.

The three men are Mo'ili'ili resident Greg Cuadra, a member of the McCully-Mo'ili'ili Neighborhood Board; Kapahulu resident George Waialeale, a former union official and member of the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board; and Punahou area resident Robert Whitaker, a tele-researcher.

Others also considering a run include city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell.

The 5th District encompasses Palolo, Kapahulu, Manoa and Makiki.

The deadline for candidates to file for the mail-only special election is June 25.

SPECIAL ELECTION

Bainum died suddenly last Tuesday from complications due to an aortic aneurysm. City law requires a special election be held to fill the vacancy within 60 days.

Kobayashi held the seat from 2002, when she won a special election to replace Andy Mirikitani, until January. She could have run for re-election but chose instead to make an unsuccessful bid against incumbent Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

While Kobayashi remains in Italy on a long-scheduled vacation, supporters opened up the Kobayashi For City Council campaign committee.

Kobayashi said that if elected, she would stay on the council and not run for mayor if Mayor Mufi Hannemann resigns in mid-term next year to run for governor.

If Hannemann does resign to run for governor, his managing director would be named acting mayor. That could factor into whether Caldwell will run for the 5th Council District seat.

Caldwell, a Manoa resident, chose to forgo a re-election bid to the state House of Representatives and attempted to run against Bainum when the seat opened up last year, but he was ruled ineligible. Yesterday, Caldwell said that he will likely make a decision on whether to run for the council by the end of the week.

"I've been given this chance now to work as managing director — I really enjoy it," said Caldwell, in a telephone call from Chicago, where he is attending a transit conference. "If I didn't have this managing director's job, in all likelihood I would look to run."

IN THE RUNNING

Waialeale, a longtime Democratic organizer and community activist, ran unsuccessfully twice for the state House in the 1970s. He is the former manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1357 and is the executive director of the nonprofit Hawaii Injured Workers Alliance.

"The reason I decided to run this time is because the council is so dysfunctional," Waialeale said.

Cuadra called himself an independent, "common sense kind of guy" who's lived in the district the last 17 years.

Also considering a run is Nathaniel Kinney, an organizer for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 50. His father, Lynn Kinney, is the union's business manager.

A Kapi'olani area resident and 2007 University of Hawai'i Richardson School of Law graduate, Nathaniel Kinney said he expects to decide in a week.

Acting City Clerk Bernice Mau and city elections officer Glen Takahashi said they expect to mail out more than 48,000 ballots in the district on or about July 17.

To ensure receiving a ballot in the mail, registered voters in the district should have the same address as they did when they last voted, Takahashi said.

Mau said considering the transient nature of the apartment-heavy Makiki and McCully-Mo'ili'ili neighborhoods, voters should make sure they are eligible.

Ballots will need to be received by the clerk's office by 6 p.m. Aug. 7. Results will be announced in the hours afterward.

An absentee walk-in site will be available from July 23 to Aug. 5 at Honolulu Hale and at a site in Council District 5 to be determined.