2012-09-12 Board of Ethics minutes

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MR. YAGONG: The County Clerk’s Office is part of the legislative branch. But in terms of elections, in terms of hiring of people, that is totally done under the auspices of the County Clerk. MR. DILL: So they hire all the precinct officials. MR. YAGONG: That is correct. Most of the precinct officials that you see there are people that have been doing it for quite some time. They come back year after year after year. So most of those folks are—I think they’ve been hired many, many years ago. But again, the point I want to make is that I’ve never asked or requested or wanted to be a part of a precinct committee. And that seems to be the gist of the complaint, so I just want to make sure I say that for the record, sir. MR. DILL: Okay, back to your daughter’s campaign. So basically other than being a father, just kind of being her number one supporter and advisor on her political strategy, you’re trying to help her succeed, essentially? MR. YAGONG: Well, if my daughter asked me a question, I certainly would take the time to give her advice. MR. DILL: And with your vast experience— MR. YAGONG: --And quite frankly, there’s many candidates throughout the island that call and ask for advice on issues before the County Council. And it’s mainly just to get a point of view. So that’s not something that’s unusual. MR. DILL: All right. Does she have any separate legal counsel for her campaign? MR. YAGONG: A legal counsel? No, she does not. MR. DILL: Okay. Board members, do you have any questions for Mr. Yagong? What’s at stake here is essentially Mr. Yagong is referring to it as a complaint. Just for the record, it’s a—correction, there—it is a request for this Board to investigate further to see if there are any violations, specifically Section 2-83 and 2-84 of the County of Hawai‘i Board of Ethics. I’ve taken the liberty to ask Board counsel to draft a resolution spelling out our rules, procedures, and a resolution which would move this Board forward and schedule an investigation to look into this further, to see if there are any violations of Section 2-83 and 2-84 per the request of the State Office of Elections. MR. YAGONG: Mr. Dill, could I ask you specifically what points do you see at this point in time that would warrant such a need to move forward? MR. DILL: The fact that we don’t exactly know what your capacity is in terms of your daughter’s campaign, the allegations or the potential allegations that are set forth in this letter. Also your role as the County Council chair and having oversight of the County Clerk’s Office and Office of Elections for the County of Hawai‘i.