HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0600.000 2012-2014 0-4-15:17,us k + • Walter K.M.Lau
• 5"4: Managing Director•
William P.Kenoi Al� '1" *�
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County of Hawai'i
Office of the Mayor
25 Aupuni Street,Suite 2603 • Hilo,Hawai`i 96720 • (808)961-8211 • Fax(808)961-6553
KONA: 74-5044 Anc Keohokalole Hwy.,Bldg.C • Kailua-Kona,Hawai`i 96740
(808)323-4444 • Fax(808)323-4440
December 9, 2013 w 7
The Honorable Chairman J Yoshimoto
And Members of the Hawai`i County Council
County of Hawai`i w
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 0 --
Aloha, Chairman Yoshimoto and Council Members:
Nearly four years ago I invited the Hawai`i County Board of Ethics and the Hawai`i County
Council to consider a package of proposed amendments to the County Code of Ethics. After
months of discussion and deliberations, the council set these issues aside without acting on our
suggestions. Today I am writing to invite this new council to reconsider and approve the ethics
proposals we offered this body in 2009.
We view these proposals as an opportunity to increase public confidence in the operations of
county government, and to bring the Code of Ethics more closely into line with evolving
community expectations.
The core proposal in this package would prohibit county employees from also contracting with
the county through side businesses. Public testimony in 2009 and 2010 demonstrated that the
public expects that we will be either county employees or county contractors, but not both.
In order to meet those expectations, our proposal would amend the Hawai`i County Code of
Ethics Fair Treatment Section 2-83 to prohibit county employees and companies in which county
employees or their spouses or dependent children own a controlling interest from engaging in
contracting with any county agency.
As I have explained before, we are aware that enterprising county workers have a long history of
providing goods and services to the county through their private companies, but we believe the
larger community no longer considers this practice to be acceptable. This proposal is not meant
as a commentary on any past arrangement.
Comm. No. (oo
Ref. To: re--
County of Hawai'i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref. date JAN 8 6 2014
Honorable J Yoshimoto
And Members of the Hawai`i County Council
Page 2
December 9, 2013
Our second proposal adopts into the Hawai`i County Code of Ethics Conflicts of Interests section
language prohibiting any elected or appointed officer or employee from appearing on behalf of
any private interests before any county agency except as specifically provided for by law. There
are specific exceptions to this prohibition to preserve and protect the rights of County employees
who wish to appear before county agencies to petition for redress of grievances. This proposed
Conflicts of Interests language is virtually identical to language already in place in the Honolulu
City Charter and Honolulu Code of Ethics.
The third proposal is a technical change deleting the Hawai`i County Code of Ethics Contracts
Section 2-85(a)because the conduct described and specifically authorized in Section 2-85(a)
would be prohibited under our first proposal (see above). The existing Section 2-85(b) would be
renumbered, and this proposal would also make a technical correction by including the word"is"
in the new Section 2-85 where the word was apparently excluded in error.
Our fourth proposal would redefine the use of the term "agency" in the ethics code to make it
more encompassing, and to make the use of the term more clear.
We believe this measure will help promote confidence in overall county government and county
contracting practices. We request that you assign this bill to the appropriate council committee,
and respectfully ask for your approval.
Aloha,
William P. Kenoi
MAYOR
Attachment
County of Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.