2008-03-12 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular Session

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Public hearing pursuant to Section 91 -3 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes regarding proposed changes to the Board's Rules of Practice and Procedure, relating to (1) Rule 1.1 (citations of Hawai `i County Code and Hawai `i County Charter), (2) Rule 1.4a(6) (definition of "officer "), (3) Rule 8.1a(3) (advisory boards and commissions and financial disclosure requirements), and (4) Rule 8.3b (public disclosure forms and confidential disclosure forms). The Chair asked Ms. Schoen if they could formally approve the proposed changes to the rules, since no members of the public were present to provide testimony, and Ms. Schoen said that was correct. Ms. Nicholson pointed out a typographical error on page 15, where there was a paragraph "c" heading under Rule 6.8, when it should end at "b." Ms. Schoen said that as the secretary retyped all the rules, typos and grammatical errors were found that were not before the Board today. She asked the Board for time to research whether they could make grammatical and punctuation corrections to the rules without having to provide notice and have a public hearing. The Board was in favor of her researching the matter. The Chair asked that it be put on the April agenda under Old Business. The Chair asked whether they had to go through the publicly noticed proposed rule changes individually, or if could be done as a package. Ms. Schoen said that for the changes that were agendized today, they could approve them as a package. Motion and vote: Ms. Lum moved to approve the rule changes that were on the agenda. Ms. Nicholson seconded the motion, and all members present voted aye. Ms. Schoen asked if the Chair wanted her research about whether or not public notice was required for grammatical changes to be placed under Unfinished Business on the April agenda, and the Chair agreed. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Report on status of Board's request for a time limit for incumbents who are seeking reelection in an election year on sending mail -outs using County funds. Includes Communication No. 2008 -29, Lincoln Ashida's 2/27/08 memo to elected County officials enclosing the Board's informal advisory opinion on the matter, and Communication No. 2008 -30, Levi Hookano's 2/27/08 email on the related proposed bill. Ms. Schoen reported that Bill 258 had a committee hearing yesterday and passed. It should soon go before the Council. b. Report on status of Council Bill 209, relating to the imposition of administrative fines for violations of the County Code of Ethics. Includes Communication No. 2008 -28, Lincoln Ashida's 2/29/08 update to the Board on Senate Bill 2937. 21