2008-03-12 Board of Ethics Minutes Regular Session

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LUM: -- Everybody drives this highway number bla, bla, and during this holiday season please use patience. And so I think most of the wording was — involved that, and then the end of it had the holiday greeting. CHAIR: But see, that's not the issue. The issue is did we ever discuss that? Did we ever come to the conclusion that that was it? LUM: Oh, 1 see what you're saying. CHAIR: Yes. NICHOLSON: I do remember Mr. Ashida, when he was talking about the ad, talking about that issue. So he did bring it up at a meeting. DILL: - -I think it might have been our January meeting. L UM: Well, that would still feed this. All the information feeds into the opinion. We went on for months— CHAIR: - -What you're doing by signing this Informal Opinion is that you're closing a door on that particular ad, which is something that's still left open, or should be left open, for discussion. And that's the— L UM: All this really says to me, though, is that in late 2007 she placed these ads. DILL: Yeah, I mean you've got to look at what context it's written in. It is titled findings of fact, and it's stating a fact that -- L UM: - -that she placed the ad. DILL: I don't think it's stating an interpretation of what went on with the ad. CHAIR: Then here's my question to our counsel. If the Board signs this and approves the Informal Advisory Opinion, and at a later date a member of the public was to file a petition against that particular ad that Mrs. Nae `ole ran, would we be able to find differently from this? SCHOEN: I don't think you have a problem with that, and this is the reason why. The purpose of the hearing that you had on the 13th was pursuant to Rule 5.2, and I'm reading from the Informal Advisory Opinion on the first page. And basically it sets out the parameters of what you folks did. And so you were looking at a particular issue, not specific conduct. And so 1 don't think, you know, a member of the public would be precluded from coming in and looking at the specific conduct. CHAIR: But could counsel or Ms. Nae 'ole argue that this Board had already ruled that her ad was to encourage motorists of Puna district to drive carefully, and such would fall under the parameters of— no