|
FRANKEL: So those are both—they're both administrative matters, they're both
<br />administrative agencies. So let me give you a little context. And I understand
<br />that Arakaki's not here, and hopefully I'll be available at the next meeting, but if
<br />I'm not, I just wanted to give you this context. What we have is two laws, and let
<br />me step back and give you the analogy. I'm driving down the road, coming to a
<br />meeting, and I'm late. And I'm coming up to the intersection. The speed limit is
<br />35 miles per hour, the light is green, but the Don't Walk sign is flashing, and the
<br />light turns to yellow. So I speed up and I make it through the intersection before
<br />the intersection turns red. A cop comes over and says to me, you were going 50
<br />miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone, and I said, oh, but officer, I didn't go
<br />through the red light. I sped up so I wouldn't have to go through the red light.
<br />Well, my excuse is no good. I've got to comply with both laws, both the red light
<br />law and the speeding law. We have an analogous situation here. We have a
<br />campaign spending law and a gift law. The campaign spending law requires that
<br />certain campaign contributions be disclosed. I filed a complaint with the
<br />Campaign Spending Commission, because I believe those requirements were not
<br />met. At the same time, we have the gift law, the County gift law. Now if Mr.
<br />Arakaki says, well, the Campaign Spending Commission says this is okay, that's
<br />fine. That only concerns the Campaign Spending Commission. It has nothing to
<br />do with the County Code, and the County Code is a separate law, just like the
<br />speeding law is separate from the traffic light law. So in any case, I filed two
<br />different —we'll call them petitions. Now the basis for this petition here before
<br />the Board of Ethics is that the gifts that Mr. Arakaki received are not allowed to
<br />be received, that the Code prohibits them. Now our Code regarding gifts is
<br />modeled after the State law. The State law is very clear. You can give a box of
<br />chocolates, you can give a token of aloha, but you can't do more than that, and
<br />that's what we have here. The—if you look at the opinions of the State Ethics
<br />Commission, it is very, very clear. You cannot be giving gifts of more than a box
<br />of chocolates. In fact, when an airline upgraded a legislator, even though there's
<br />no pending legislation before the legislature, it was inappropriate, and here we're
<br />talking about gifts of thousands of dollars for people who have business before—
<br />CHAIR: I'm not sure if we should be listening to this right now. I have nothing against
<br />you per se, but without the quote, defendant here to listen to what you're saying,
<br />to rebut, I'm not sure if we should be. I would like to hear what your viewpoint
<br />is, but
<br />FRANKEL: -- understood. I think under Chapter 92, I'm entitled to provide my input, and I
<br />will hopefully come back. What I would like to ask you today is, please don't let
<br />Mr. Arakaki delay this, because delay is in his interest. And so I'd like you to
<br />make sure that he attends the next meeting, look—if you need to change when
<br />you meet, you should, before the end of this meeting, decide when your next
<br />meeting is, because generally the Campaign Spending Commission meets on
<br />Wednesdays, and I would assume that they will not complete all their business
<br />today. You know, we've dealt with other matters today, and things defer. But I
<br />don't want to be in a position where Mr. Arakaki's continually postponing—
<br />CHAIR: - -You are inferring some character implications here-
<br />30
<br />
|