2018-01-18 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Chair Bennett told Commissioner Fear that if there was an issue he wanted to talk about, he simply needed to email him and let him know. Commissioner Fear said he disagreed with needing to do this and said he felt they should be able to state what happens in their district at the end of a meeting. Chair Bennett said he appreciated Commissioner Fear’s concerns, but specifics were required beforehand because sometimes when commissioners gave their district reports, they would launch into other discussions that were not on the agenda. Vice Chair Olson said his understanding of the Sunshine Law in the past was that there was a separation between discussing something and making a decision. They should not be in decision-making mode on something if it was not on the agenda and the public didn’t have a clear opportunity to understand what is being proposed. Whatever is to be discussed needs to be gotten out there so people can think about it and participate meaningfully. Commissioner Fear said it’s not going to happen. Vice Chair Olson said he had pressed for the passage of the Sunshine Law. The intent back then was not to limit discussion but to prevent meetings and decisions being made behind closed doors, before any public testimony was taken. It took a long time to get the Sunshine Law passed in this county. However, it was never intended in any way, shape, or form to prevent discussion on issues as long as it was just discussion and not decisions being made or votes being taken. Ms. Wong said the public still has a right to know what will be discussed. For example, if a commissioner wants to talk about abandoned vehicles in his district and it is not specified on the agenda, how will someone who is interested in that subject know to come in and testify? She explained that the whole issue came up because OIP required her to provide a draft agenda for today’s meeting in order to approve the limited site visit. When the OIP director looked over the agenda, she said items were too vague. Today’s discussion is an effort to comply with a directive from the OIP director. It should not be difficult for a commissioner to give prior notice to the chair and secretary of what the problems are in his or her district, and it needs to be timely so the secretary can meet her agenda posting deadline. Commissioner Fritz said he sees this as a good thing. He gets calls from people in his district about various issues, and this will require him and the other commissioners to do their homework and pre-plan a little. It can only help the process. Commissioner Neff agreed. Her community had concerns about the Pāpaʽikou Transfer Station, and it would get people talking if it were on the agenda. Chair Bennett agreed it should be a simple process. Just email him a short sentence or phrase on the issue, and copy the secretary on the email. It might be the same issues each month on the agenda, such as abandoned vehicles in a district, so perhaps that could be automatically on the agenda. If there was something unique, just email him. Vice Chair Olson said abandoned vehicles should automatically be listed for his district.