2005-10-12 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular mc

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we'll get involved in that process, too. But any input that either or both of you could make to suggest a way to make this a practical law FRANKEL: I don't see why there's any practical difficulties. People comply at the State level. People have been ignoring the law at the County level. The only practical implication is people who haven't been complying need to comply. They just need to disclose. CHAIR: Have you looked at the other counties, to see what's going on in the other counties? FRANKEL: I have not. All I'm familiar with is at the State level. I'm a little familiar with City and County of Honolulu. I know they have a similar registration requirement. CHAIR KK: Well first of all I'd like to make public the fact that I know Mr. Fuke quite well. In fact, we both golf on the wrong side, which is why I actually know him even better. But what both of you have referenced to —maybe is the of the law. Unfortunately there are laws that are open to different interpretations. As far as I know, in the history of our country, in the history of our world, that's what courts are set up for—to interpret laws that are interpreted differently by different people. You can have a law as clear as daylight to you, and yet to someone else it means something different. And so we have cases backed up in our courts to try to determine what the law really means. Now, having said that, here we seem to have a difference of opinion as to what the lobbying law really means. My question to Mr. Fuke is, what would it be to you to register as a lobbyist? I mean, does it, in spite of the law, in spite of maybe some of the of the law, and Ms. Leithead has said that she has informed the various departments to be more specific about things —but you, personally, if you registered as a lobbyist, would that mean a great hardship for you in your work? FUKE: Absolutely not. But the only thing, Karl, that I'd like to point out, is that if the decision is that people like in my profession would have to register, then —and you're using the law to say that this is why I have to register —then I would interpret that law, I would say that law has to be generically applied to all individuals or companies that appear before any agencies that require approval. And that means like, even for a building permit, like an architect. That architect needs to have their plans in —for your home, for example, that architect needs to have that plan reviewed and approved by a number of agencies, and during the process, they have to interface with the decision - makers. And they get —and certainly they'll have to be compensated more than $250. So essentially what I'm saying is, if I have to register, and I have absolutely no problems in having to register, then I would say that each —the individual or companies that interface with the government that have received more than $250 in a six -month period would also have to apply. And that applies not only to the County Council, anybody who appears before the County Council, but it also has to apply to all the 10