2021-12-16 Merit Appeals Board Minutes

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Merit Appeals Board December 16, 2021 they could theoretically have the room filled up, right. And I think then they evolved to just the online Zoom access. So, for us, though, I don't see any major issues. We'll double-check. This is something that all boards and commissions need to implement by January 1st. So, our office is making sure that all boards and commissions have a procedure down so I don't anticipate any issues for us, but if there are issues or concerns we, of course, will make sure they're resolved before our next meeting. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. I guess I was thinking that—okay, so it's not like the council meetings where you have the Puna Conference Room, the Kailua-Kona conference roomso, it's not going to be like that, right? Or it could be or could it be? MR. YOSHIMOTO: It could be depending upon—for our purposes I don't see the necessity for that, but it could be. Like you said, the public participation requirement in terms of the audiovisual room is what you're talking about, right. It could be, say, at the Kona Chambers, right. And the whole not the whole but one of the problems with what the Legislature did is, is that I don't think it envisioned—and maybe they didn't understand this—but the resource requirement for having an audiovisual room for members of the public to participate in separate from the actual meeting room—in other words, for one meeting, you're going to have two rooms plus you're going to have the remote access, right. So—and if you have two or three meetings that happen on the same day, which sometime happens—'cause you noticed meetings are held either on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or once in a while Fridays—depending on the board or commission. So, what I'm trying to say is that it could be a drain on resources as far as having the facilities available. Say, you have three or four meetings happening at the same time. We only have a limited number of conference rooms, so you have to schedule it and whatnot. So, it can get cumbersome. It is a work -in -progress. It is something that we're going to do our very best. But, again, I think for our purposes we should be fine. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Any questions from the Board? Gay? MS. MATHEWS: Yes. What happens for non-compliance? MR. YOSHIMOTO: If we're not compliant. Sunshine Law violations on usually involve negating what actions the board takes. So, in other words, if you voted on something and the public did not have the proper access, then the usual—and no guarantees because I don't know what the OIP would rule on that—would be to invalidate whatever actions the board takes for that particular action. That's the usual. And then, hopefully, it's not a knowing violation, `cause if it's knowing, then they might even go there might be more severe consequences, right. But the usual is just to undo it. Page 8