2009-09-23 Board of Ethics Minutes

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CHAIR: 2009 -6 and 7. ALAMEDA: Oh, 9 and okay. Regarding the ethnic of Emily Naeole. I have known Emily for about ten years, and I live in her district and I've had the option and the wonderful opportunity to be not only apart of her life, but apart of many lives that she surrounds and who surround her. And when this first came up, I was shocked, and I could not believe it. This lady goes out on a limb for her district and everyone who lives within it, and those who don't live in her district. It doesn't matter what your creed, color, race, is. Emily, I don't believe, has any form of what we call in Hawaiian pilikia against anyone. She will give the shirt off of her back if she sees someone walking in the rain and needs a shirt. This lady, she holds a great standard of who she is. And I know a lot of the time people feel that her beliefs interfere with what her job is, but I believe that and I know that she knows that she believes this also —that she stands on who she is, and that's who she is has gotten her to where she is today. And through every life experience she has experienced, every person she has met along the way has made her into the woman she is today. And not because she has a certain belief or because she has that she's different from others. Should she be constantly condemned for that? You know, a lot of people, they use her especially in her job realm they use, oh, Emily uses God all the time, all the time. Well, you know what? All of us use God all the time. Every time we reach in our wallets to grab apiece of money, to grab money to pay for something in this country, we are using God, `cause printed on every currency that we have, it says in God we trust. And that's what Emily lives by. And I love her dearly, and I know that she loves her job dearly, because the way she 's able to interact and make a difference in many people's lives. And I just would like you folks to take that into consideration today. Thank you. CHAIR: Thank you. Up next we have Joyce. FOLENA: Mr. Dill, I'm going to speak on my own petitions, my and Greg's petition. Is that acceptable? CHAIR: Yeah, you'll have an opportunity later, of course. FOLENA: Okay, I'll be brief. CHAIR: Okay. FOLENA: This is I'll use the six minutes up, maybe, maybe not. Petitions 2009 -6 and 2009 -7. We are not criticizing or faultingMrs. Naeole for her religious belief. We are very adamant that during the County Council meetings, which are secular by nature, legislative by nature, called to conduct business the legislative business of the County of Hawai `i that it is a violation of the Code of Ethics for any council member to single out their own religion and use that religious principle as a lever to try to sway the politics, the votes, of the County Council, to try to affect the legislation of the County Council of the County of Hawai `i using skin color. There was a quote by Mrs. Naeole. She said, is it because I'm kind of dark, or what's the problem. And this is a racial slur. The 11