Mayor Kenoi's ethics proposals - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

John Dill Page 2 September 14, 2009 A short summary of our proposals follows: The first proposal would amend the Hawai’i County Code of Ethics Fair Treatment Section 2-83 to prohibit county employees and companies in which county employees or their spouses or dependent children own a controlling interest from engaging in business arrangements with any county agency. While I am aware that enterprising county workers have a long history of providing goods and services to the county through their private companies, I believe the larger community no longer considers this practice to be acceptable. This proposal is not meant as a commentary on any past arrangement. It is simply an acknowledgement that today our community expects that we will be either county employees or county contractors, but not both. The second proposal is a technical change deleting the Hawai’i County Code of Ethics Contracts Section 2-85(a) because the conduct described and specifically authorized in Section 2-85(a) would be prohibited under our first proposal (see above). The existing Section 2-85(b) would be renumbered as Section 2-85(a). This proposal also makes a technical correction by including the word “is” in the new Section 2-85(a) where the word was apparently excluded in error. The third proposal adopts into the Hawai’i County Code of Ethics Conflicts of Interests section language prohibiting any elected or appointed officer or employee from appearing on behalf of any private interests before any county agency except as specifically provided for by law. The narrow exceptions to this prohibition assure that employees will continue to enjoy the right to appear before county agencies to petition for redress of grievances. This proposed language is virtually identical to language already in place in the Honolulu City Charter and Honolulu Code of Ethics. Again, this proposal is acknowledgment that today the public believes our roles as county employees make it inappropriate that we engage in certain outside activities. The public expects we will be county employees, or we will be representatives of private interests before county agencies, but not both. The fourth proposal would redefine the use of the term “agency” in the ethics code to make it more encompassing, and to make the use of the term more clear. Finally, we hope to join forces with the Board of Ethics in supporting changes to state law that would empower the Board of Ethics to levy administrative fines for infractions of the County Ethics Code. As you know, the County Council in 2008 adopted Ordinance No. 08-57 authorizing the board to impose administrative fines, but the intent of this language has been stymied by two provisions in state law. County of Hawai`i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.