HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0091.003 2024-2026HEATHER L. KIMBALL
Council District I (North Hilo,
Hdmakua, and portion of Waimea)
Phone: (808) 961-8828
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email: Heather. Kimballphawaficounty.gov
HAWAPI COUNTY COUNCIL
25 A upuni Street, Ste. 1402.
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
DATE: April 24, 2025
TO: Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Council Chair
Council District 8
FROM: Heather L. Kimball, Council Member
Council District 1
SUBJECT: Transmitting Board of Ethics Opinion regarding Bill No. 2 1;
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 15, OF THE
HAWAI'l COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED),
RELATING TO NEPOTISM.
Transmitted herewith is a two -page letter from the County of Hawaii Board of Ethics (BOE)
relating to their opinion on Bill No. 21, of which was approved by BOE at their April 23, 2025
meeting.
Thank you.
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Hawai'i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref. To.
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BOARD OF ETHICS, County of Hawaii
101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325, Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Tel. No. (808) 961-8251
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April 23, 2025
Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba. Council Chair and
Members of the Hawaii County Council
Hawai'i County Council
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
Re: Bill 21 - An Ordinance Amending Chapter 2, Article 15 of the Hawaii County
Code, Relating to Nepotism
Dear County Council:
On January 21, 2025. the Board received a referral of Bill 21 (2025) to Amend Chapter 2,
Article 15 of the Hawaii County Code, Relating to Nepotism from the Council Committee on
Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee to provide comments. The Board
heard this request pursuant to Section 14-5(b) of the Hawaii County Charter.
At its duly noticed meeting on January 28, 2025, in an open hearing, the Board reviewed
and considered Bill 21. Upon its review, the Board decided it needed additional information to
provide considered input to the Council. The Board requested its staff to 1) invite Council
Member Heather Kimball. the introducer of the bill. to answer questions relating to the intent,
creation, and status of the Bill 21, and 2) to receive additional information through its counsel
relating to the legal definition of "immediate family" as it appears elsewhere within the State and
neighboring counties.
At its next duly noticed meeting on February 13, 2025, in an open hearing, the Board
received testimony from Council Member Heather Kimball, County Auditor Tyler J. Benner, and
Department of Human Resources Director Sommer J. Tokihiro. The Board also reviewed Bill 21
and the Section 84-13.2 (2023), Hawaii Revised Statutes, as amended. Deputy Corporation
Counsel Sylvia Wan, as counsel to the Board, provided a summary of the State"s definition of
"immediate family member" as it appears through the Hawaii Revised Statutes. DCC Wan
provided an example that per HRS 454F-1, the state defines "immediate family member" to
mean a "spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, step -child, and
equivalent adoptive relationships." DCC Wan noted some extensions of "immediate family
member" included: reciprocal beneficiary relationship, legal guardians, and any related
individual who resides in the same household. DCC Wan identified that the common theme
among the definitions of an "immediate family member" is to include those relationships that
would reside in a household together, in line with the idea of what is typically considered the
nuclear family.
The Board, having deliberated and considered and giving appropriate weight to the
testimony and information provided, hereby renders the following opinion:
The Board's Opinion
The Board is in support of Bill 21, but would request the following friendly amendments
and considerations:
1) In reference to the definition of "immediate family member" as it appears in Bill 21, that
the phrase "relations through adoption, foster care, and the Hawaiian custom of hanai" be
amended to read as follows:
"relations through adep4ien, foster eaFe, and the Hawaiian eustem of ha
formal and informal adoptive practices"
The Board reasoned that the singling out of the "Hawaiian custom of hanai" could be
seen as discriminatory rather than the intention of inclusion, because the term i) singles out one
cultural group, and ii) rejects informal adoptive practices by other customs. The Board would
rather have a more inclusive definition of adoptive relationship to include other forms of
informal adoptive practices.
2) In reference to the definition of "immediate family member" as it appears in Bill 21. the
Board requested that the extension of the term to include the "third degree of
consanguinity" to include "first cousin, second cousin" be removed. The Board found
that the inclusion of "third degree of consanguinity'" was not consistent with the
commonly understood definition of"immediate family member."
The Board instead offered the following suggested friendly amendment, that the
definition for "immediate family member" in Bill 21 be replaced with the State's offered
definition of "relative" as it appears in HRS § 84-13.2 with the exception that the language
relating to Hawaiian hanai custom be removed and instead insert the preferred language "relation
through formal and informal adoptive practices."
Sincerely,
Rachel Short
Chair, Hawai'i County Board of Ethics