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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0686.002 2000-2002 From: To Fax: 961BS12 Page i of 16, Tuesday, Auqust i3, 2002 9:OBpm - ~ ~ 1 ~i C. i_t r P r' ~ornpany: Ph®r~e: 9618912 ~~~f Y1: ~®~pany: Ph®ne: '~~x: ~~tE: 8~13i02 Pees ir~~luding this ~®iie9' ~~gE: 16 ~®~~e~ts: Would you please see that all Council Members receive copies of the attached correspondences in regards ta: Hill 305 (Draft 3) due to be heard at the County Council Meeting on Wednesday, August 14, 2002 at 9 ~OIi, ~s96 ~`al~ From: To Fax: 9618912 Page 2 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:08pm JUN-25-?_002 TUE 07;59 AM CofH CounEy Clerk Office FAX N0. 808 961 8912 P, O1 a° ~a Ai., KONIS[ll llUI>TA,I,DiKEDA Cau+rryClerk ~g,,~: DepulyCorrnryClt'rk cons°rAxCE x. xiRl:u Legislalrve Arrdilor dFFICF OF' TIE COUNTY CLFRK County vfHm~vai'i fl<nvai'i Cortnly }4uilclin~ 25 A~xni ,Slrc:ct 1Yily, lYawai'i 9620 rFle~=hu•~e: (sos~ 9tal-8zss l~Qesie>aile: (808) 9(l-89)2 r~,~~ z4, zooz Pvlr. "i'oe~ F`ussi 73-442 flolohola Street Kailas-Dona, Hawaii 96740 RE: Bi11305 Tear Mr. Russi; There are two county legal sotuces an ethics. 1. Article 7CIV of the d-Iawaii County Charter entitled, "Code ofF,thics." 2. Article 15 of the I~fawaii County Code entitled, "Code of Lthics." 'I'he Charter takes precedence over the Code. The Charter requires the Council to adopt an ardinanec (L""ode provisions) containing a code of ethics. If RiI1305 passed in its present forn~, it would only aaxtend Article 15 of the Code, not Article XIV of flit Charter, I hope this answers your question. inc y, AL shi From: To Faa: 961E912 Page 3 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:OBpm e•~., A' v y~~ y ~ s fld~ 11®115%Yl s• •6 I.JlJ1nALl/d11I:LA :uasefy Cderk Depaty Corw[y Cderlh Y ~ ~ C03~ISTA1mICE 1~ KIRIU ~,e~~rt~a OFFICE OF ThTE COUNTY CLERK County a, f ~Hawrai'i H~wai'i County Building 1S Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawati'i 96720 Telephone: (808} 961-8255 Facsirttlle: (808) 961-~9I1 June 20, 2002 Mr_ `I'ons ltussi 7322 Holoholo Steed Kaila~a-Kona., fLawaii X6740 dill ~f6~ Ir Mr. Rossi; The purpose of this letter is to respond to your telephone inquiry this xaorning. The biA you referred to (bill 305) does not propose an amendment of Article 3~IV of the Hawaii County Cheater. The bill proposes amendments to Article 15 of the Hawaii County Code, which was apparently enacted paarsaamt to Section 14a1(a) of the Charter: "The council shall adopt by ordinance a code of ethics which shall provide as a minimum standard the provisions of this aaticle. More stringent provisions assay be enacted." If dill 305 is passed in its present form {ITa'a~ 3), it will mot amend the provisions of the Hawaii County Chanter, which can only be chacsged pursuant to Article XV of the Charter. Sinter ly Al Konishs From: To Fax: 9618912 Page 9 of 16, Tuesday, Auqust 13, 2002 4:08pm July 30, 2002 Al Konishi, County Clerk County of Hawaii 2 5 Aupuni Street Hilo, Haw°aii 46720 Re: Your July 26, 2002 Response to our Reeords Request Dear Al: We wanted to point out, for the record, why you did not include the Chairman's comment that you refer to as part of your explanation for not being able to fulfill our records request. You stated: "My review of the minutes of September 7, 2002 (which have previously been made available to you) does not indicate the approval of a motion to deer to th. e ~Q low' g mee.,.,= ti~~ There was a motion to defer and there was a comment after the vote by the Chairman, but there was no motion to defer to the next meeting and the vote was not altered. Therefore, there is no record reflecting a change of such a motion nor is there a record of the altering of a vote." The comment that was made by the Chairman after the vote, as taken from the September 7, 2002 minutes, (which have previously been made available to us) that we have attached for your review and is what generated our July 17, 2002 records request to you, was: ~ ~b ~l'~ 6~~~1~ tf~ [ 11C1i~ ~%ll~, The Chairman, Councilman James Arakaki in his own recorded words, voted fora "motion to defer to the next meeting." This was the motion he felt he was voting for and did so and after he voted he made it clear for the record by stating, "Okay, so we are deferring this to the next meeting" and no one argued the fact or corrected him. We believe the record is clear that the motion to defer Bi11305 was to the next meeting. Based on this new information that vve have made you aware of, can you add Councilman From: To Fax: 9618312 Page 5 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:OBpm July 30, 2002 Al Konistu, County Clezk Paget James Arakaki's comment to your response to our records request? And if you do, please read it before you sign it. If it sounds confusing, you will understand our records request a little better. Sirlcerely, ?~'~d-r R U.~v C7'!.d''i~ti~l.Pi Thomas Russi Christine Paul 73-4422 HoloHolo St. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 attachments c: Office of Information Practices From: To Fax: 9618912 Page 6 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:08pm r AL IC®I~TIS~~1 ~'v- JAY I~id. N111~i1~E s- .e ~~ayc~rycs~ CONSTJ~ATC~ li. ICIBt[U Gegsis*g s3~i OF`1~'F~C~ 7 C~IINTYCZ.~1tFC C~rwrry of Flawarlt Hawma Coaeraty ~wiJsd[eag Zs.4u~rrJ met Hilo, Hasva~F 9572iJ Telephoraa: 951-8255 Farsiareile: 951-8912 Tu9y 2~, 2002 `r~~ ttu~i C ~a~ 73-~2,2 d3aloH®1® S~ I~,sail-IG, I~ai 96744-9307 a is ~~t~i 3 1`9, 2Q02 ~ ~~BQO h+ia~~~ ~d `The pu~ose of this letter is to ~spond to your ee~ucsts relatiasg to the Couw~ty Cocil°s of ber 2000: co ®the ego gdaatt c ed the f~~a?oii Coaarat~v Coas~al s ~eyote ro de,$er .dill ,SOS 3) to the folloa~Bnd Co~aas=al h~eetin~ wr~d rovBsaeh adlomeDed Cos~aci! ~le~ke~ Bohb~ .decant Leithe~ 7'0~ to re, fey tbas Kidd to the ~o~~ o,~'Ethies (sands ) ~e car°e seekema~ ce written re~or~ that shows how the Coaar~id vote wae~s cllterecf 141y rewaev~+ ®f ~e ups of Septearab~ 7, 2000 (whack haws previously b ode a~alable to you) dc~s ucst iicate the wal of a ti f to dlae llovuia~,~~eean' ~e~ waas a ara€stac~ t® deg tl a a t waa~ by the but t w~ uo ~oti~n Fo 4~ ~ # a~tt cad v w~ not al~tea~ `Thetefoa~, #here is no acrd ~ as sh~s~f ~ a3at air is them ~ r41 caf th~al ®f a w®t~;. As you req a ale cagy of your ! as sitached. aucea~ely cc: wise ®f Iraforrti®n l~~ctaces From: To Fax: 9618912 Page 7 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:OOpm July 17, 2002 Al Konishi, County Clerk County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Ile: Bill 30~, Relating to the Code of Ethics, Freesloart of Information Request eraaeler Part II, UIPA Dear Al: As you know, the record reflects that after a lengthy discussion on September 7, 2000, the Hawaii County Council voted to defer Bi11305, DDraft 3 to their next meeting. As far as we can find, the road gets cold after that. In other words, Bi11305 was never on the agenda for the next Hawaii County Council meeting. However, we did fmd a letter by Council Member Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd to the Board of Ethics, dated September 27, 2000 asking them for their review and comment of this Bill. Our continued attempts to speak with Council Member Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd have been unsuccessful. With that and under the provisions of the Uniform Inforn.iation Practices Act (Modif ed), Part II Freedom of Information, we are making a records request for: ~ a copy of the record that changed the Hawaii County Council's vote to defer Bill 305 (Draft 3) to the following Council Meeting and which allowed Council Member Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd to refer this Bill to the Board of Ethics We are not requesting anyone's understanding of what happened. We are seeking a written record that shows how the Council's vote was altered. We understand, that under the UIPA, there are three responses available to an agency. 1. Make available, the record requested in its entirety or explain why there may be a delay in doing so or why a partial disclosure can only be made. 2. Deny the record requested with appropriate exemptions and remedies stated. 3. State that the record request cannot be granted because: a. the record does not exist or is not maintained by the agency. b. the agency needs further clarification of the record. c. the request would require the agency to compile the request Prom: To Fax: 9616912 Rage 8 of lti, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:OBpm July 17, 2002 Al Konishi, County Clerk County of Hawari Page 2 and therefore is not readily available. If all or any part of this request is denied, please cite the specific exemption(s) which you think justifies your refusal to release the information and inform us of the appeal procedures available to us under the law. We would appreciate your handling this request as quickly as possible and look forward to hearing from you within ten business days. Because we have no idea what our request from your office may entail, we would ask that you provide us with an estimate, if any, for obtaining this information. Please also include a date/tirue staaaaped copy of this request with your respores~ Thank you for your continued assistance in helping us to resolve this situation. Sincerely, T~Ru~v CI°a~'i~~ ~ctccL Thomas Russi Christine Paul 73-4422 HoloI-Iolo St. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 c: OIP Hawaii County Council members From: To Fax: 9618312 Page 9 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:08pm July 3, 2002 Honorable Bobby Jean Leithead- Todd County of I-iawaii 25 Aupuni Stree Hilo, Hawaii 96720 12e: Our June 27, 20021etter to you c®arceruhig 13i1130~ Cade of Ethics Dear Councilwoman Leithead-Todd: We have been advised to request that the above-referenced correspondence be forwarded to the Chair of the County Council by you for assignment to the proper committee. Could you please forward our request and if for any reason you cannot do so, could you please let us knOW? Sincerely Calsra~lr`c,~i i c~L Thomas Russi Christine Paul 73-4422 HoloHolo St. Ka.ilua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 c: Hawaii County Councilmembers d Board of Ethics From: To Fax: 9616912 Page 10 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:08pn June 27, 2002 Honorable Bobby Jean Leithead- Todd County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street Hilo. Hawaii 96720 lae; dill 30S Code of Ethics Dear Cowicilwoman Leithead-Todd: As we explained to you today by telephone and in regards to the above-mentioned bill, we have some concerns we would ask for you to consider. As you know, Bi11305, (Draft 3), will amend the Code of Ethics in the Hawaii County Code to follow the State Ethics. However, it will eliminate Section 2-85 Condarct of officers and employees. We feel that Section 2-85 should be reinstated completely including and most important, (a) (3) "All persons shall lbe treated in a courteous, fair and impartial manner." As you also know, we feel very strongly about this particular section being reinstated into Bill 305 before it is considered. Because of our personal experiences with the County of Hawaii, it is sometimes the only avenue we have to hold our government accountable. We also believe that courteous, fair and impartial treatment should be the cornerstone for any government agency. For these reasons we would ask that you: 1. Amend Bi11305 to include Conduct of officers and employees: cers and employees of the County, mvhile discharging their duties and dealing with the pulalic, shall adhere to the following precepts: All persons shall ibe treated in a courteous, fair and impartial manner into Section 2-83 Fair Treatment of Draft 3. or 2. If you move forward with Bi11305, Draft 3 as it is, with no changes, that a rule be adopted by the Board of Ethics to make it mandatory for the Board to include in their "Rules of Practice and Procedure" a copy of that part of the County Charter that covers the Board of Ethics so that the public understands their rights under the County Code and the County Charter as far as fair treatment. In other words, because this bill cannot change Article XN of the From: To Fas: 9616912 Page 11 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:08pa Honorable Bobby Jean Leithead- Todd County of Hawari June 27, 2002 Page 2 Hawaii County Charter entitled, "Code of Ethics," we feel it is important that the general public be aware of their right to fair treatment when appearing in front of the Board of Ethics. Thank you very much for introducing a more stringent Code of Ethics. Because these changes are so important, we are wondering why this Bill has been sitting with the Board of Ethics for 2 years? Can you please keep us informed on your decision about our above- mentioned request? Thank you. Sincerely 7~` R L~ CT°ti+~'i~'t~i ~c~.ccL Thomas Russi Christine Paul 73-4422 HoloHolo St. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 c: Hawaii County Councilmembers Board of Ethics From: To Fax: 9618912 Page 12 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 A:08pm November 15, 2001 Tease provide us with a dateltime Board of Ethics stamped copy of this correspondence County of Hawaii 101 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Dear Board Members: We would like to summarize what we feel transpired at the Board of Ethics meeting yesterday, November 14, 2001. While testifying about Bill 305, Draft 3, which is amending the Code of Ethics in the Hawaii County Code and is attempting to eliminate Section 2-~5. Conduct of offflcers and employees (a) (3) "AII persons shall be treated in a courteous, fair and hnpartaal maaaner," we stated how strongly we feel about this particular section being reinstated. It is in our opinion that this was not an oversight or a mistake but an intentional endeavor to tamper with the very essence of a simple right w~e have as citizens of this County. Our concern at this point, is not so much the eliminating of this section, but the mere audacity of the attempt to do it. Again, as we said on November 14~', we would ask that this section be made part of the amended Code of Ethics that you will send to the County Council based on some very important experiences. It works, especially when an officer or an employee of the County does not want to correspond with a citizen. We think courteous, fair and impartial treatment should be the cornerstone for any government agency. And we are hopeful that this Board will support a Bill at the State level encouraging the State Ethics Commission to incorporate this section in their code as well. Sincerely, CI°~%~~,wte. t ~.L R 73-4422 HoloHolo St. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 c: Honorable Harry Kim Daniel Mollway, Executive Director, State Ethics Commission Lincoln Ashida . F ron: To Fa<. 9616312 Page 13 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:CBpn JUL-29-2002 MON 09 53 AM CofH County Clerk Office FAX N0. 808 961 8912 P. O1 sdawai`i C'aunty Council September 7, 2000 some time to sit down with Ms. I,eithead= fold. 1 mean, t don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water reght now, so--- G€°sR. ARAKAICI: Okay. Mr. `Tyler. I19R14 TYI:,ER: 'I'laartk you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you Mrs, Jacobson. I think that's very good. That shows a real collaborative spirit, and that's what I think this Council's been about. Mr. Chairman, the main that reason I used rhos parliamentary procedure is that there are 4wo rrtembeeS of the Council who are missing. Not because they don't want to be here, they have other obligations, they're exctased. And I think it's very i~rapnrtant that they be biven an oppoa4raaaity to be heard. I'rn not sure, other than what I see in the Committee level, how they're going to vote=Accrtainly they haven t seen Draft 3--brat I think it's only fair, not only to Mrs. l>eithead-Todd but also to your position, Mr, Chairman, and your concern that they hear this. So thret's the reason 1 made the motion, and I hope gray colleagues well support a deferral so that we can have a true hearing on this by all the L'otancllrrtcmbers. `s'hank you. CHR. ARAKAICI: Okay, Mr. Elarionoff. MR. E AR NO No, Mr. Chairman. s'm satisfied with Mr, 'I`yler's answer. Thank yott. 'fhe vote on the motion to defer Sill 345, Draft 3, was carried by a voice vote, as follows: AYES: Councihnembers Flaa°ionoff; .lacobson, Leithead-'fold, Pesicchio, Smith Arad Tyler - 6. NOES: Council Chait7nanArakaki - t. As3S~NT & EXCUSED: Councilmembers Chung and Yagong - 2. CHR„,~ARAKAKS: (3kay, so we're deferring this to the next meeting. CESS: At 1 s :35 a.m., the Chair called for a short recess. R ~C(~ ItiVFNE.; 'l~hc meeting was reconvened at t 1;53 a.m., with all members present except for • Messrs. Chung and Yagonb. 53 From: To Faz: 9618912 Page 19 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:08pm January 15, 2002 Honorable Curtis Tyler Please pr®vide us evith a c®py of this 77-6399 Nalani St. letter that sh®ws receipt ®f this Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 c®rrespmndence by y®ur ®fl*icee Re: dull 3Q~ -Code of Ethics Dear Curtis: Thank you for your suggestion in regards to our concerns about Bi11305. At this time, we have attached some correspondence explaining our concerns, for your review. We have taken the liberty to attach concerns of other citizens, also. We believe this was a deliberate attempt to undermine the only avenue available to the general public when it comes to County employees. We will keep you apprised of the progress of this Bill and hope that you will not allow it to pass the Council with its current language. Sincerely, C~a~~,~i t ats.L `1~R~ 73-4422 HoloHolo St. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 c Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, Councilmember CERG attachments From: To Fax: 9618912 Page 15 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:OBpm June 23, 2002 Al Konishi, County Clerk County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 lfie: Bil1305 Dear Al: Thank you for finding the time to write your June 20, 20021etter to us. We appreciate the timely response. As you know, the reason vve came to you, was because of a statement made by Councilman Tyler to us. Curtis told us that because the Code of Ethics is in the charter, Bi11305 can do nothing. You stated, in your June 20~` letter, "If Bill 305 is passed in its present form (Draft 3), it will not amend the provisions of the Hawaii County Charter, which can only be changed pursuant to Article XV of the Charter" which brings us to our question again. ? Can Bi11305, if passed by the Council in its present form (Draft 3), change the Code of Ethics in any way? Thank you for your continued assistance. Suicerely, 7'l~ao-~-sc~Rc~v CYt.~'a.~t~ ~~.ai.L Thomas Russi Christine Paul 73-4422 HoloHolo St. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-9307 c: Corporation Counsel bc: Ombudsman (Attention Mark) From: To Fac 9618912 Page 16 of 16, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:08pm February 11, 2001 Warren Chong, Chair Board of Ethics Dear Warren: Attached is a copy of a letter we received back from Daniel Mollway, Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission. As you can see, the State does not have what our County has in reference to fair treatment of citizens and we were wondering, if you would consider supporting a bill at the State level similar to our County Article 15, Code of Ethics Section 2-85(a)(3)? Thank you, 'T'c~ R. (,(~c~ C~a.~"~ ~cus.L P.O. Box 3586 Kailua-Kona, HI 96745-3586 808/325-1515 4 pages to follow