October 28 2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Memorandum to Office of the Mayor, Hawaii County Council, All County Departments and Agencies and All County Boards and Commissions October 5, 2020 Page 2 of 4 The following is a brief summary of the prohibitions against political campaign activity and related matters in this County: The Hawaii County Code (HCC) § 2-83(b)(4) provides: No officer or employee shall use or attempt to use the officer's or employee's official position to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, exemptions, advantages, contracts, or treatment for oneself or others, including but not limited to the following: Using County property, facilities, equipment, time or personnel for private business, campaign purposes, or for any other purpose other than for public purpose. The following is prohibited: • County facilities and property: o Candidate walk-throughs on County premises are strictly prohibited. Department heads are charged with ensuring such walk-throughs do not occur on County premises. "Walk-throughs" include physically walking through a County facility and the distribution of material supporting a candidate or a campaign message. In other words, even though a candidate does not physically walk through a County facility, the distribution of the above items on County premises is strictly prohibited. o The County Seal is County property and may not be used on any campaign materials, as it gives the impression that the County is endorsing a particular political candidate. Use of the County Seal in any advertisement or in any manner likely to give the impression of official County approval is a misdemeanor. See Hawaii County Code (HCC) § 2-155(a). • County equipment: o County email accounts must not be used for political campaign purposes. This includes the generation and receipt of email messages that are for political campaign purposes, and not an official County purpose.