2010-01-13 Board of Ethics Minutes

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could come up later that could not be foreseen in less time. Ms. Nicholson recollected that Maui County was considering a one- to two -year limit. Ms. Lum said her impression is that some petitions are filed because of cumulative behavior, where an action becomes the last straw for the petitioner. Ms. Nicholson said the time limit is not really an issue, and they always ask a late petitioner why it took so long. The Board decided to leave the matter alone. Ms. Nicholson brought up her December 6, 2009, email to Ms. Schoen, asking questions about the Ethics Code, and Ms. Schoen's responses. Question 8 dealt with lobbyist registration, and whether blogs or other electronic media which did not exist when the Code was drafted should be added to the list of media in Section 2- 91.3(b)(5)(D). The other members agreed. Ms. Nicholson also brought up Section 2- 91.3(e)(1), which states that lobbyist statements and forms need to be filed with the County Clerk by United States mail. Filing of such forms should also be allowed by hand - delivery, as well as by more modern methods such as email and fax. The Board discussed how proof of filing would be shown, as it might not be possible to get a delivery receipt when emailing. Ms. Lum suggested language to say that the forms could also be delivered by hand or electronically with proof of receipt, and the others agreed. Ms. Schoen said the Board at an earlier meeting had discussed refining Section 2- 83(a)(3) of the Code, which required that all officers /employees treat persons in a "courteous, fair and impartial manner." The Board discussed whether they should tighten up the section, as "courteous, fair and impartial" means different things to different people. Ms. Lum said that though the section was inconvenient to the Board did not mean it should not be a part of the Code and that citizens perhaps needed a "catch -all" bucket to bring up their frustrations. The Board decided to leave the section alone. The Chair instructed the members to let Ms. Schoen or the secretary know if they thought of any other proposals, and he would work with Ms. Schoen on drafting the response to the Mayor. Ms. Lum reminded them to mention in the response the certification form for contracts and the electronic service of lobbyist documents. Ms. Nicholson said they could request the Mayor share their concerns in his submittal to the Council, and the Chair said they would include that in their response. The Chair called for a recess at 11:20 a.m. The Chair called the meeting back to order at 11:24 a.m. 7