2007-09-12 Board of Ethics Minutes mc

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community. And if this is the reason why his letter has been —his letters and postings —have been so rude andI mean, he accused me of calling names, but he really called some names, and so I don't know if he would—if this was a vengeance opportunity for him, or if there's some other reason for his anger. I believe that this is not an ethics charge. I have always been known as being very outspoken and frank. I'm from New York City, and maybe that's a cultural thing. But I thought I was really tempering it a lot. You should have seen the first draft. I just feel that this whole charge is frivolous, and I can understand that people feel that I should tone it down a bit. I do want to say that it is largely a matter of perception, because obviously Mr. Henderson took great umbrage at my letter, you felt uncomfortable with it, and yet I had nine people in Pahoa come up to me and say thank you, that was a great letter. So you can't please all of the people all of the time. DILL: I think that's the whole point that we're trying to get at, that it is a matter of perception, and you know, even though you're exercising First Amendment rights and not writing as a Planning Commissioner, people perceive it that way. And that's the thing that we need to bear in mind, all of us who serve on commissions. MALANKA: I would say I have to agree. I agree with the first speaker —it's not an ethics issue, because you had no agenda for the Planning Commission. I think you're passionate about what you feel for that area, and that's what came across, unfortunately in a negative way. I know that there are times when I've thought about doing something, because —but as a business woman in Kona, I can't necessarily doI might get a friend involved and ask if they're on the same page, and you know, have them do something. But I think that we do have to hold back some, and lesson learned. CHAIR: Holding back someI'm of course the chairman of the Board of Ethics, and I've been tempted many times to respond to a blog or to write a letter stating my opinion, and I always ended up throwing those things away, because as a representative of the County, I have to learn restraint. And oftentimes it's not in our best interest to engage in these types of discussion, especially in written print. I think this might have been better served if you would have called Linda Berry on the telephone and spoke with her. I think it'd have been better served if you wrote a personal letter to her, and —but once you bring it to the attention of the community, and you are a Planning Commissioner —and again, for the record, I don't know Mr. Henderson. He has not brought forth a complaint to this body. I asked that this be put on the agenda. And I thought it was, and I still believe it is, an ethics violation and that we need to treat people courteously in the public, because we represent the County. And I'll stand by that. So from the Chair's perspective, you know, I'd like to see a motion that we investigate this as a possible violation of 2 -83, section 3. That's my perception. But, members, it's your decision. If you do look at it in section 2 -83, Fair Treatment, again it says while discharging duties 13