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NICHOLSON: And to what degree they need to make sure that it's clear that they're <br />using public funds versus private funds, perhaps that's part of the issue. And how does <br />that tie in with using your photo in relation to the time for an election. So we're sorting <br />out those — essentially those three things, right? <br />CHAIR: Well, yes —but might I just say that - -that from the day an elected official takes <br />office, I more or less assume that they will run again, and the vast majority of elected <br />officials run for office again. So it could be argued —it could be argued that it's just not <br />in the political season. The political season is for the entire two years or four years or <br />whatever they got elected to. But I have Ms. Nae `ole, which means Mr. Dill. <br />DILL: Huh? <br />CHAIR: No, it says Ms. Nae `ole- <br />DILL: Oh, all right. Well, going back to board member Malanka, your question was <br />why is this an issue, and 1 think Wayne in this discussion has brought up the arguments <br />as to why this is an issue. Essentially, the question is, are we serving a public purpose by <br />pursuing this issue? And the parallel to that - -is Mr. Yagong, or these other ads showing <br />their picture, are they serving a public purpose by putting these ads and getting feedback <br />and information to their constituents? I think the key here is the parameters attached to <br />this. Was Mr. Yagong acting with malice aforethought? Was he seeking individual <br />political gain by printing his picture? Was Ms. Nae `ole doing that? And it really is the <br />parameters attached to their intentions by doing this. Are we serving a political game by <br />even —by wasting Mr. Yagong's time, if that could be construed as wasting his time, and <br />taking him away from his duties serving his constituents? Same thing with Ms. Nae `ole. <br />And are they wasting taxpayers' money by putting their pictures in the ad, or are they <br />using the taxpayer money to inform their constituents of issues that they feel are relevant <br />to their community? I guess you know, going through all this research that we've been <br />going - -since last month, going over, I'm just afraid that should we spend too much time <br />chasing shadows, it becomes counter productive, not only for us but for elected officials <br />or the people we're investigating. And furthermore, it also —I think we run the risk of <br />devaluing the decisions we make here on our Board, you know. If we decide to start <br />making decisions on every little thing that even smells of an ethical violation, people are <br />going to stop taking us serious, and they're going to stop taking our decisions serious. I <br />think it's important to clarify what our intentions are, but also I think we should reserve <br />our decisions for matters that are really important to the public, so that there is some <br />weight to the decisions we make here. <br />MALANKA: I agree, because I think the public wouldn't even have - -and forgive me if <br />I'm wrong, because maybe somebody in the public did bring this to your attention, Mr. <br />Joseph —but I just can't imagine that the public would look at this ad and say, oh, he's <br />trying to promote himself. It's an image- driven society, as we said earlier— <br />CHAIR: - -Well, I think we need to read Mr. Ashida's April 23rd report in which he said <br />this office received numerous calls concerning the photo in this ad. <br />23 <br />