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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0537.000 2006-2008 Pete Hoffmann wor a Phone No. Hilo: (808) 961-8027 Council Chair ~~C Phone No. Waimea: (808) 887-2043 District 9 -North and South Koha[a Fax No.: (808) 887-2072 E-Mail: phoffmann@co.hawaii.hi.us c HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawai `i Hawaii Caunty Building Holomua Censer 25Aupuni Street 64-/067 Mama(ahoa Highway, SuFte GS Hilo, Hawai `i 96720 Waimea, Hawaii 96743 ~ r July 13, 2007 TO: Brenda Ford, Chair Public Works and Intergovernmental Relations Committee FROM: Pete Hoffmann Council Chairperson SUBJECT: An Ordinance Amending Chapter 2, Article 15, Section 2-82, Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 Edition), As Amended, Relating to the Code of Ethics Attached for your consideration is an ordinance amending Section 2-82(a)(8), which reflects a proposed amendment to financial disclosure requirements as requested by the Hawaii County Boazd of Ethics. The amendment exempts "Officers" who have been appointed as members of boards or commissions with only advisory powers and functions from filing financial disclosures. Att. PH/lys Comm. No. 'S 37 Ref. TO: ~ Serving the Interests of the People of Our Island Ref. Dpte UL 1 3 Hawaii County /s An Equal Opportunity Provider And Employer •!Y"`"+~ Lincoln S.T. Ashida Har Kim Li~,;~ Corporation Counsel ry Mayor i. Gerald Takase ~;.,1: Assistant Corporation a.'a:+• Counsel COUNTY OF HAWAII OFFICE OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325 Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4262 (806) 961-8251 Faz (806) 961-8622 January 4, 2007 Sent via email; no hard copy will follow - Honorable Reeve Williams and Members of the Hawaii County Board of Ethics c/o Hilo Lagoon Centre, Ste. 325 101 Aupuni St. Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Chairman Williams and Ethics Board Members: RE: Hawaii County Code Section 2-82 Our Entry No.: WRK 06-13494 Section 2-82(a)(8), Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 ed.) (hereinafter "Code") defines an "officer" of the County as follows (emphasis supplied): (A) The mayor, members of the council, and all other elected officials of the County; (B) Any person appointed as the administrative head of any agency of the County; (C) The first deputy or first assistant to the administrative head of any agency of the County; (D) Any person appointed as a member of n board or commission specifically provided for in the Charter; (E) Any person appointed as a member of any board or commission not specifically provided for in the Charter, but not including boards and commissions having only advisory powers and functions; (F) The managing director and deputy managing director. With respect to board and commission members, subsections (D) and (E) appear to differentiate between advisory board members who serve on boards created by the Hawaii County Charter (2000) (hereinafter "Charter"), and those advisory board members who serve on boards created by our Code. In other words, assuming you are an advisory board member, if your board is contained in the Charter, you are considered an "officer." If your board is contained in the Code, you are not an "officer." Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider Honorable Reeve Williams January 4, 2007 Page 2 There seems to be no logic or good reason for this discrepancy, other than the fact that historically, those boards and commissions found in the Charter tended to be regarded as "more important" than other boards and commissions found in the Code. Since historically these boards and commission in the Charter were policy-making bodies, there was good reason to require financial disclosures from their members. Obviously, with the changing times and recent amendments to our laws, this archaic and compartmentalized belief is no longer valid today. Nonetheless, this discrepancy in the law does have real world implications for many of our citizens who serve (or wish to serve) on our numerous boards and commissions. In sum, this discrepancy in the law serves as a disincentive for many citizens wishing to serve on advisory boards or commissions, since there is a financial disclosure requirement. Code Section 2-91.1 (b) (relating to financial disclosures) requires the following (emphasis supplied): (1) Candidates to Office. All candidates for elective office for the County of Hawaii shall file a financial disclosure as provided herein within ten working days after the deadline for filing as a candidate for office. (2) Officers. AU officers shall jde a financial disclosure as provided herein within twenty working days after taking the oath of office or within [weary working days after the effective date of this section and annually thereafter on or before January 31 of each year until the end of the term of office. If an officer is re-elected to office or reappointed to office for a new term, the foregoing requirement for filing financial disclosures shall be observed. (3) Regulatory Employees. All regulatory employees shall file a financial disclosure as provided herein on or before January 31, 1984, and thereafter biennially on or before January 31 of the biennium year. Persons becoming regulatory employees on or after January 31, 1984, shall file the initial financial disclosure as provided herein within thirty working days of commencement of employment or term of office. Thus, for members of advisory boards or commissions, whether or not you are required to file a financial disclosure statement presently depends upon whether your board is contained in the Charter or the Code. Our laws recognize and respect that individuals have a significant privacy interest in their financial information. So long as there is a legitimate basis for the government to request and maintain this information, our office supports such a requirement. As mentioned supra, for boards and commissions with policy- making authority, such as the Police Commission and Board of Ethics, there is a rational and legitimate basis in the requirement that its members submit financial disclosures. This is to ensure that there are no personal financial interests that Honorable Reeve Williams January 4, 2007 Page 3 may be furthered or compromised as a result of a board member's official actions taken on a matter that comes before the board. Such a "safeguard," in our opinion, is necessary in order to ensure compliance with our Code of Ethics and to establish and maintain the trust in government from the citizens we serve. With respect to advisory boards and commissions, however, there may be no such rational or legitimate basis. On balance, an individual's personal privacy interest in his or her financial information may outweigh the government's right to require collection of this data. Further, and more importantly, our experience has shown that many persons in our community refuse an offer to serve on advisory boards and commissions for the very reason that they do not wish to file a financial disclosure. This is not to suggest they have anything to hide, or that their intentions in serving are in any way dishonorable. In this day and age of identity theft, coupled with the fact we do live and work in a small community, financial information is a matter we must respect as personal and private. For the above reasons, our office will be proposing amendments to Code Section 2-82(a)(8). Our proposed amendments will read as follows (new material underlined in bold italics): (A) The mayor, members of the council, and all other elected officials of the County; (B) Any person appointed as the administrative head of any agency of the County; (C) The first deputy or first assistant to the administrative head of any agency of the County; (D) Any person appointed as a member of a board or commission specifically provided for in the Charter but not including boards and commissions having only advisory powers and junctions; (E) Any person appointed as a member of any board or commission not specifically provided for in the Charter, but not including boards and commissions having only advisory powers and functions; (F) The managing director and deputy managing director. We believe this amendment will (1) remedy an obvious discrepancy in the law, and treat all advisory board and commission members similarly and fairly, and (2) eliminate a present disincentive in our laws for members of our community to serve on advisory boards and commissions. Given the present onerous financial disclosure requirement for applicants seeking an appointment on advisory boards or commissions created by our Charter, we hope to properly adjust our laws so the disincentive against service is eliminated. We have submitted this recommendation to Mayor Harry Kim, and have received his consent to proceed. We will in the near future propose this matter to the Hawaii County Council for their consideration and amendment of the Code. As the Board of Ethics is charged with overseeing the Hawaii County Code of Honorable Reeve Williams January 4, 2007 Page 4 Ethics and reviewing financial disclosures, we thought it prudent to inform you of our intentions, and keep you abreast of any significant developments. If you have any questions or comments concerning this matter, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter. Very truly yours, LINCOLN S. T. ASHIDA Corporation Counsel c: Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor Honorable Pete Hoffmann, Chair, Hawaii County Council Honorable Casey Jarman, County Clerk Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, Deputy Corporation Counsel S: Departments/CC/LSA Corresp./Letter to BOE re financial disclosures 10-19-06/LSAmr