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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0629.000 2010-2012 *.YOSN Lincoln S.T.Ashida William P. Kenoi ti el Corporation Counsel Mayor . It•. r� Katherine A. Garson 1.,�_of ' Assistant Corporation i s Counsel COUNTY OF HAWAII OFFICE OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL 333 Kilauea Avenue, Second Floor • Hilo,Hawaii 96720 • (808)961-8251 • Fax(808)961-8622 E-mail: corpcounsel @co.hawaii.hi.us March 14, 2012 Sent via email; no hard copy will follow ; Chairman Dominic Yagong and Members of the J Hawai'i County Council County of Hawai'i 25 Aupuni St. Hilo, HI 96720 9? o Dear Chairman Yagong and Council Members: Ls-, RE: Request for executive session regarding any and all claims, administrative appeals and other related legal hearings and matters (including present and subsequent litigation involving the County) pertaining to Glen Shikuma, Patricia Nakamoto, Shyla Ayau and an unnamed former employee of the County of Hawai'i: A request to hire special counsel to represent only the County of Hawaii in the aforementioned legal matters and areas; said request for special counsel is NOT for the purpose of hiring attorneys for the aforementioned former employees, or for any Council member or the County Clerk who may be sued in their individual capacities Please accept this letter as a corrected communication for placement of the above-matter on the Hawai'i County Council's meeting agenda for March 21, 2012. We respectfully request the above caption be included on the meeting agenda. At the onset, we thank and commend the Chairman of the Council and Councilwoman Brenda Ford for bringing to the Council's attention the potential Sunshine Law problem we discussed on March 9, 2012. We appreciate Chairman Yagong's willingness to self-report the possibly inadequate verbiage contained in his communication 586 that was the subject of the Council's discussion on February 15, 2012, regarding a potential Sunshine Law violation. Unfortunately, the scope of the request made by Corporation Counsel exceeded the verbiage set forth in Chairman Yagong's communication. So there is no ambiguity as to the specific request Corporation Counsel is making, with the permission of the Council, we will read the following into the record at the time the Council is called upon to vote: (oa. • Comm. No. Hawai'i County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider Ref. To ' Ref. Date ' • 1 I Chairman Dominic Yagong and Members of the Hawai'i County Council March 14, 2012 Page 2 "Corporation Counsel respectfully recommends the Hawai'i County Council authorize the hiring of special counsel to represent only the County of Hawai'i in any and all claims, administrative appeals and other related legal hearings and matters (including present and subsequent litigation involving the County) pertaining to Glen Shikuma, Patricia Nakamoto, Shyla Ayau and an unnamed former employee of the County of Hawaii. The request for special counsel is NOT for the purpose of hiring attorneys for the aforementioned former employees, or for any Council member or the County Clerk who may be sued in their individual capacities." On March 12, 2012, we conferred with the State of Hawai'i Office of Information Practices (hereinafter "OIP") concerning the above verbiage, and they concur it is adequate to address the earlier concerns raised by the Council. Enclosed is OIP's response to our outreach. We also kindly ask that our letter to the Council dated January 26, 2012, concerning these cases be re-distributed to the Council for their review. This letter details the basis for the conflict of interest that led to the recommendation that special counsel be hired to represent the County of Hawaii. If you require another copy of this letter, please let me know. It was sent under privileged cover, and provides information concerning the receipt of information about a County officer/employee by Corporation Counsel that led to our consultation with the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel, and their subsequent recommendation that a potential conflict existed such that the hiring of special counsel for the County of Hawai'i was required. As we have since the time the conflict was discovered, the Corporation Counsel continues to execute its duty pursuant to Rule 1.16 of the Hawai'i Rules of Professional Conduct, in ensuring the interests of the County are protected during this transitional time. For this reason, if the Council has any questions or concerns, please contact us. We wanted to make sure this was made clear to all Council members since there was an unfortunate and erroneous implication made that the County was without legal representation. We continue to protect the County's interests during this transitional time. Thank you again for your cooperation in agendizing this very important matter. We appreciate your continuing efforts in working with us to protect the best interests of the County of Hawai'i. Very truly yours, Aincoln Marshida,1420L127:19PM t`aiuo LINCOLN S. T. ASHIDA Corporation Counsel Encl. Ashida, Lincoln From: Jennifer.Z.Brooks @ hawaii.gov Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 10:29 AM To: Ashida, Lincoln Cc: Rodillas, Martha; Lorna.L.Aratani @hawaii.gov Subject: Re: Proposed language for Hawai'i County Council agenda Lincoln, This agenda item will adequately notify the public that the Council is considering retaining special counsel for all claims, etc., relating to the three named and one unnamed former employees. I also ran the language by Lorna Aratani, who agrees with my assessment. Although one claimant is unnamed, the description does indicate both that there is another person whose potential claims will be addressed by the special counsel, and that those claims will be related to former county employment (at least implicitly), so the language gives the public adequate notice as to what the scope of the special counsel's representation will be. Please don't hesitate to call if you have further questions on this or other issues. Aloha, Jennifer Jennifer Z. Brooks Staff Attorney Office of Information Practices From "Ashida, Lincoln"<LASHIDA(a)co.hawaii.hi.us> fo <Jennifer.Z.Brooks(ahawaii.gov> Cc "Rodillas,Martha"<mrodillas(a�co.hawaii.hi.us> Date 03/13/2012 10:02 AM Subject Proposed language for Hawaii County Council agenda Hi Jen, Here is what we are proposing for the heading of our letter to the Council (this is what will normally be placed on the agenda): RE: Request for executive session regarding any and all claims, administrative appeals and other related legal hearings and matters (including present and subsequent litigation involving the County) pertaining to Glen Shikuma, Patricia Nakamoto, Shyla Ayau and an unnamed former employee of the County of Hawai'i: A request to hire special counsel to represent only the County of Hawai'i in the aforementioned legal matters and areas; said request for special counsel is NOT for the purpose of hiring attorneys for the aforementioned former employees, or for any Council member or the County Clerk who may be sued in their individual capacities. We will also place in the body of the letter the exact request we are making of the Council; specifically that they authorize the hiring of a special counsel (an attorney for limited duration and purpose)to represent the organizational client County of Hawaii only. We will again make clear the scope of services will include any and all claims, administrative appeals and other related legal hearings and matters (including present and subsequent litigation involving the County, and that it pertains to cases involving the three already named former County employees, and a yet unnamed fourth former employee. We will further point out and make clear attorneys are not being hired to represent the former employees (as was unfortunately erroneously reported in our local media), nor are they being hired to represent any Council member or 1 the County Clerk who may be sued in their individual capacities (the claims already filed make this threat). That way, what is"noticed" on the agenda will match exactly with what the Council authorizes. Does this sound/look OK? Any suggested edits you could provide would be much appreciated. Thank you, Lincoln S. T. Ashida Corporation Counsel County of Hawai'i 333 Kilauea Ave.,2nd Floor Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Tel.(808)961-8304,x118 FAX(808)961-8622 Email: Lashida @co.hawaii.hi.us Website: www.co.hawaii.hi.us/cc/home.htm This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this communication in error,please notify us immediately by email or telephone, and return the original message. Thank you! Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer 2