MIN CHC 1989-01-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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David Smith, Tribune-Herald • Gordon Pang, West Hawaii Today Cheryl Blyth, County Council Staff Nelson Ho Sam Page Jack Smoot Jerry Rothstein INTRODUCTORY Chairman Pro Tem Robert Bethea presented a "County REMARKS: Charter Commission - 1989 Proposed Work Plan" which he had drafted over the weekend for the members to review. He then turned the meeting over to Corporation Counsel Fred Giannini who presented to the members an overview of the Sunshine Law. SUNSHINE LAW: FRED GIANNINI: Basically, when asked to address the situation of open meetings in the Sunshine Law and the things that that entails--what I prepared was the way in which both the Sunshine Law, which is the common name for Chapter 92 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, and also the records and open meetings section of the Hawaii County Charter, which is Article XIII, Section 13-20, relate to the way in which meetings are to be conducted by state and county boards and agencies. I have included with this handout (Open Meetings and the Charter Commission) that I have given you, a short, approximately 3-1/2 page essay that covers what I am going to 111 explain to you and also it includes as Exhibit A which is a reproduction of Chapter 92 and Exhibit B which is a reproduction of Section 13-20 Records and Meetings Open to the Public. Basically, when they talk about the Sunshine Law and open meetings, the purpose of both the state legislation and the County Charter provision is to insure that as much as possible will be done in public in an open meeting setting. The purpose is not to have the deliberation and the taking of testimony and the decision making and agreements made by members of state and county boards and commissions--have as little as possible of that done behind closed doors or in secret. As I've stated in this opinon, the policy and intent is declared in Chapter 92-1 of the Sunshine Law which basically states that government agencies exist to aid the people in the formation and conduct of public policy. Opening up the governmental processes to public scrutiny and participation is the only viable and reasonable method of protecting the public's interest. Therefore, the Legislature declares that it is the policy of this state that the formation and conduct of public policy--the discussions, deliberations, decisions, and action of governmental agencies--shall be conducted as openly as possible. To implement this policy the Legislature • 2