2005-10-12 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular mc

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CHAIR: David, do you want to come forward, too? Have a chair next to Mr. Fuke here. Let's talk about this. How about we let you go first, and you can reiterate your concern as it's set forth here. FRANKEL: My real concern is that there's been really no implementation or enforcement of the lobbying law. When I went to the County Clerk's office in August, excuse me in September, to see who was registered, I was shocked to see really, no one's been registering. Well, one or two people a year, and the people who are at the Council lobbying all the time for those of us who've sat there, see at the Council on a regular basis, have not registered. Mr. Fuke was the easiest illustration of the problem simply because over a time period, over a six -month time period, he was far more visible than any other lobbyists. But there are many others. What I have asked for is that essentially you not only ask Mr. Fuke to comply with the law but that you provide some advice to the County Council in terms of what they need to do to assist you in ensuring that the law is complied with, because they're there all the time. They can easily recognize who a lobbyist is, and they should be they're in the best position to ensure that the law is complied with. CHAIR: What is that law? FRANKEL: Well, it's Section 2 -91.3 of the Hawaii County Code, which is modeled after State lobbying law, and it essentially requires lobbyists to meet certain definitions to register with the Council and report on their expenses. CHAIR: Okay, let me just say at the onset that weI don't believe any of us are familiar with that Code right now. We haven't seen that Code. So, right up front we need to do our homework on that, so clearly we won't be taking a position on this today, since we have not been provided with a copy. We can seek counsel on that, if you have a copy of that. FRANKEL: It's in your Code of Ethics. BLT: It should have been in your binders that were provided— CHAIR: - -the binders? BLT: Because there should be a copy of the Hawaii County Code and CHAIR: - -so I'm the one that's— because I look at that and I thought, well what is the lobbyist registration law. I didn't think to go to my Code of Ethics, because I didn't realize it was cross - referenced there. FRANKEL: CHAIR: BLT: It's just one of the Okay. of the Code of Ethics. If I may, Mr. Chairman, when I became aware of this, what I did is trying to be pro- active in anticipating that this was going to be coming forward on the agenda, 12