Complying with an order from the Hawai'i Supreme Court, Gov. Linda Lingle has chosen five people to immediately replace University of Hawai'i regents who have been serving as holdovers since their terms expired at the end of June.

The court's order, issued Dec. 4, found that Lingle's actions in holding over six regents violated state law. The order gave Lingle 30 days to name replacements.

The names of the new appointees will be submitted to the state Senate for its advice and consent when it convenes later this month, Lingle's office said yesterday in a news release.

Nominated are Ramon de la Pena, a UH emeritus professor; Mark Fukunaga, CEO of Servco Pacific; Chuck Gee, former dean of the UH School of Travel Industry Management; Eric Martinson, managing director of Tradewind Capital Group; and Grant Teichman, a UH history and political science major. A sixth nomination is still to be decided.

Kitty Lagareta, one of the holdovers — a communications executive, former Lingle political adviser and the governor's friend — was rejected for a second term on the board by the Senate in May. De la Pena also was one of the holdovers, but his name was included on the list of potential replacements submitted to Lingle.

The Republican governor and Senate Democrats have been at odds over the regent nomination process for years.

Before 2006, the governor had sole discretion to choose nominees to the UH Board of Regents, with Senate confirmation required.

But that year, voters approved a constitutional amendment calling for an advisory council to recommend potential regent nominees to the governor. The following year, the Legislature overruled Lingle's veto and the Regents Candidate Advisory Council was created.

Last February, the council gave the governor a list of potential nominees to fill 12 vacancies on the 15-member Board of Regents.

Lingle made several regent nominations and some were confirmed by the Senate, but Lagareta and five other regents had not been replaced by the time their terms expired.

Lingle said she had the authority to keep the six regents as holdovers.

That prompted Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), and state Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, to file a legal challenge against the governor.

Lingle's office argued that state law allows the holdover regents to serve until their replacements are nominated and confirmed.

But the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.

Yesterday, Hanabusa and Sakamoto said they are satisfied with the outcome.

"I'm very pleased that she's complied with the court's order," Hanabusa said.

"Unfortunately, it took a lawsuit for the governor to act to fulfill the constitutional amendment and appoint from what the people have decided to be a better process," added Sakamoto.

Still to be decided is the outcome of the sixth regent nomination.

The Supreme Court will apparently be left to make another decision regarding that at-large seat. Two of five candidates for the second at-large regent withdrew their names from consideration and the governor has filed a motion asking the court for extra time to get new nominations.

Hanabusa and Sakamoto say the governor got a valid list of names.

The two senators have until Wednesday to file an opposition to the governor's request for additional names.