HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0494.001 2014-2016TESTIMONY:IN SUPPORT OF Bill 101
Submitted by Cheryl King, Kailua-Kona
PIfG
COUNTY CLERK CORAM, 4q4
COUNTY OF HAWAII
RECEIVED
Time' 2.o0
BY
Date IdILS��
Chair Eoff, Vice -Chair Poindexter, and members of the Finance Committee
Needless to say, I support this amendment to the charter. You may remember a
letter I sent to all of you in May and to the newspapers expressing my concern about
the composition of the Ethics Board based on my own petition to the Ethics
Board a couple years ago, my observation of the composition of the Ethics
Board then and now, my own hesitation to volunteer for the Board, and
recent cases which have been brought before an Ethics Board with only 3
members.
I said:
Decisions made by the Board of Ethics might be very different if there were more
members and if they were from all areas of the island. For the past several years,
they have all been from the East, primarily Hilo, side of the island.
To clarify that, I do not think Ethics are different on both sides of the island....just
that if Board members are scattered around the island they are less likely to know
or to have had personal contact with anyone involved in a board petition, which will
lessen the likelihood of a recusal and hopefully lead to more impartial proceedings.
It might be difficult to get volunteers to serve on this board due to the small number
of people on it and the need to have a quorum every month. Potential board
members may fear being sick or not being able to leave island for a vacation.
There is the very real problem of a member being reluctant to recuse himself over a
possible conflict of interest if it meant that the Board would not have a quorum.
Because this board meets monthly only in Hilo, one might conclude that it is difficult
to get volunteers from other districts to apply because of the commute and the
difficulty of getting that much time off work.
Serious consideration needs to be given to varying the meeting location on both
sides of the island to encourage a more balanced applicant pool and to enable those
bringing petitions before the Board of Ethics to attend without undue hardship
some of the time.
I know that there were suggested nominations to the Ethics Board by my west side
councilmember which were never acted upon and that there are currently Ethics
Board applications from West side residents which are languishing in a stack in Hilo.
Because of recent events, no one can be appointed to the Ethics Board now or, I
suspect, until we elect a new Mayor. /
Comm. No.�
Ref. to:
Rif. Dated 2 0 205
Vie need.to have a functional Ethics Board with a full complement of members as
;:' -soori,as pons ble'and to prevent this from happening again.
Please support changing the Charter to include more members on the Ethics Board
and to require representative district membership, with alternate meetings on each
side of the island. So that we never again have to worry about having a quorum, the
selection of two alternates, one from the East Side and one from the West, might be
considered. I suggest including a provision that if the mayor does not choose one
nominee within a set -period of time, that the Counailmember must choose one of his
nominations to send to the Council -for confirmation.
The nomination of Ethics Board members by their councilmembers, with selection
by the Mayor, and confirmation by the Council, will provide a needed set of checks
and balances