2007-09-12 Board of Ethics Minutes mc

Home

such an angry and vehement fashion. His letter accuses me of all sorts of things, which a careful reading of my letter will show did not exist. He said I called her names. I didn't call her names. Basically, everything that I mentioned about commercial development along Highway 130 and the position of the Planning Department, the Planning Commission, Mainstreet Pahoa, and Malama O Puna were all based on the public record, including the public record from long before I became a Planning Commissioner. There was no secret information that I was, you know, holding back or letting out. And I feel that—my feeling is that this is a democracy. We have one class of citizens. We don't have an aristocracy and then peons. The law is the same for everyone. If I have any agenda at all, it isas regards Highway 130—it is that I do not want to see it developed into a strip mall. I do not think that there should be commercial development along that highway. And it's my right to have that opinion, and I find that I have opposed —both as a commissioner and before I became a commissioner—attempts to put commercial development on that highway, and I will continue to do so. And I think that's my right as a public citizen. CHAIR: I agree with First Amendment rights. I mean, I'm a member of the Press Club, and I wouldn't want to be stifled myself. However, when we assume positions within the County of commissioner status, our first —our first goal is to assist the public the best we can. Now, we should always do it in a fair, courteous manner. And I'm not certain your letter did that. I looked at your letter, and it seemed that—it was perceived when I read it, initially, that perhaps you were angry or discourteous and that there was something there. Within our Code of Ethics, I mean in section 2- 83(3), it says that officers and employees of the County will discharge their duties in dealing with the public, shall treat all persons in a courteous, fair, and impartial manner. And being a Planning Commissioner means that you need to —need to soften what you say, be more polite in the way that you say it. And people took offense to your letter, and I think that's why I asked that this be put on the agenda, so that we could discuss this and see what the other commissioners felt towards this. SIRACUSA: I would like to respond to that, if I may CHAIR: -- Certainly -- SIRACUSA: - -and say that—to remind you again that I was not speaking as a Planning Commissioner. I was not in the process of discharging any duties to the Planning Commission when I wrote that letter. CHAIR: No, I SIRACUSA: - -I could very well have been writing as president of Malama O Puna, which is a non - profit which has taken a position on that. But I didn't, 10