2007-06-13 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular Session mc

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BURNS: During the March 20, 2007, Councilman Jacobson stated that he knew very little about engineering. At a subsequent Council meeting, the following statement was made by Councilman Jacobson: "It's a crisis situation. Perhaps you saw some of those folks who came in from Brenda's district some months back who were crying and in fear every day about any meaningful rain over two inches. They know they're going to suffer losses. Yet it's nice to say an engineer should have taken care of it, but they haven't. And I think that is why it's in front of us now. And I appreciate your input, but I think we just can't leave it to engineers any more. It's too late." My commentary is, first of all Mr. Jacobson says that it's a crisis situation. I'm not sure what the definition of a crisis situation is or if Mr. Jacobson has the authority to declare a crisis, but there are some on the island who would disagree with that statement. Secondly, Mr. Jacobson implies that engineers did not take care of the problem in Brenda's district. The fact is that no engineer was ever asked to design drainage for the properties that caused the flooding problem. So to say that engineers have not taken care of a problem that they were never asked to look at is a statement meant only to discredit engineers and make it appear that the cause of flooding is members of the engineering profession not taking responsibility for solving flood problems. Mr. Jacobson was out of line stating that it's nice to say engineers should solve the problem, but they haven't. The fact is that when called upon, engineers have solved many flooding situations on the island. I do not believe engineers were treated fairly in this public statement. I find it disturbing that in March, Mr. Jacobson claimed to know very little about engineering, and two months later he was sure that the resolution of flooding problems could not be left to engineers. His statements regarding engineers were not fair, impartial, or courteous based on his own admission that he knew very little about engineering. I am troubled that his statements regarding engineers also appeared in the newspaper, further disseminating misinformation regarding the engineering profession. At another meeting, Councilman Jacobson stated: "People are being flooded out despite the very best intentions and best professional quality of engineers, and that's what we are trying to deal with right now. I understand the need to compromise, but unfortunately, that's what we've been doing here—basically compromising the health and safety of the residents of this island. Engineers don't take the same oath that we do. We have to swear to uphold the constitution no matter what their ethics are, and I'm not impugning that at all. I think, as I'd mentioned earlier, they're very ethical and they do the very best within the limitations of their profession, but we swear to protect the health and welfare of the people of Hawaii, and I can't compromise on that. If I'm going to err, I'm going to make it on the side of health and safety, and not on the profit of people who are speculating on this or trying to do that. I think we have enough problems with the infrastructure here without trying, you know, to compromise health and safety issues. So I appreciate you coming in, but I think that some of the problems that have been in the past, you know, we've 22