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HomeMy WebLinkAboutREP FC 135 2018/08/21 (2016-2018) • REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE DATE: August 21, 2018 Re: Comm. No. 959/Bill 160 PLACE: Council Chambers Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i TIME: 10:30 a.m. Council Chair and Members Hawai`i County Council Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred Bill 160, reports as follows: Bill No. 160, transmitted by Council Member Eileen O'Hara, via Communication No. 959 dated May 25, 2018, amends Chapter 2, Article 15, of the Hawai`i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), relating to the Code of Ethics. The bill would amend as follows: 1) add a new definition for "truthful"; and 2) amends Section 3, subsection(a), to read "Officers and employees shall be truthful." The purpose is to require that officers and employees of the county be truthful when performing their duties and dealing with the public. Your Committee first considered the bill at its meeting of June 18, 2018. At that meeting, Council Member Eileen O'Hara gave a brief background of her bill, which stems from requests of constituents, to add the definition of"truthful" to the Code of Ethics, applying it to officers and employees. Council Member Susan L.K. Lee Loy asked Corporation Counsel the meaning behind the word "truthful." For example, if a department gives a specific date for opening of a park or the completion of a road and the date is incorrect, it's not clear on how that falls into being truthful. Reading the bill the definition is understood, but when applied to an opening of a park or completion of a road project, how does giving an incorrect date fall into being"truthful." Joseph Kamelamela, Corporation Counsel, responded that being truthful can depend on the situation. Things change and it is doubtful whether someone will be raising issues over a date. Mr. Kamelamela believes people are more interested in something more material and significant in nature. Council Member Aaron Chung stated that truth is a subjective thing it is not easily proven or disproved and putting something like this into the County Code would only give rise to more complaints. Nothing would preclude a complaint from being brought about someone not being truthful. Sometimes people make up information and it is difficult to make good decisions on that basis but when it comes down to it, it would be difficult to codify. Everyone seeks the truth in their own way and it will be a problem putting this in the County Code because it is so difficult to prove or disprove. Mr. Chung will not be supporting this. • • FC-135 Page 2 August 21, 2018 Council Chair Valerie Poindexter feels it all comes down to interpretation. You can call a department and they may tell you what they believe to be true but if it was misspoken or misinterpreted, there is a problem. There is a fine line with interpretation by someone saying what they believe to be true. Ms. Poindexter will not be supporting this because there are so many uncertainties which would cause unintended consequences and liability for the county. Council Member Jennifer Ruggles believes to a certain extent the truth is hard to define but feels the Council could work on defining what the truth is if that is a concern. Ms. O'Hara said this amendment is a policy statement, something to strive for. It doesn't resolve any issue, it states a policy that the county should strive for. Mr. Chung stated this is more than a policy statement, there are recourses that can be had against employees or officers not being truthful. If there is some element of knowingly stating an untrue fact, or being grossly negligent in stating an untrue fact, Mr. Chung would be more inclined to support something like that. This definition opens it up to sanctions by the Board of Ethics. Ms. Lee Loy stated it is more about information presented than is relied upon. She would like to see more accountability on the part of departments. Ms. O'Hara stated it is accuracy of information, being truthful to the best of one's ability or knowledge. This addresses when an employee does not do their due diligence before answering, and is meant to be across the board for the county and not to target a specific department. She then stated her willingness to postpone the bill to gather more feedback. Committee Chair Maile David expressed concern with what appears to be an attempt to legislate truth. It appears the bill stems from misinformation given by a staff person from a department. Based on the discussions with counsel, she will not be able to support the bill. Ms. Lee Loy stated that boundaries are somewhere in between information that the County provides and what an individual relies upon. Ms. Ruggles commented that the way the bill came forward, it seems to address a certain department, but such standards should be held to every department. Your Committee unanimously approved a motion to postpone Bill 160 to the call of the Chair. Comm. 959.2 dated July 19, 2018 from Ms. O'Hara, requested Bill 160 be placed on the next available agenda. The bill was before Your Committee on August 7, 2018; however Ms. O'Hara was not available. Your Committee unanimously approved a motion to postpone the bill to August 21, 2018. At the August 21 meeting, Communication No. 959.1, from Ms. O'Hara, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 160 was presented. The amendments were a result of discussion held during the • FC Report No. 135 FC-135 Page 3 August 21, 2018 previous meetings. The proposal removed the terms "truthful" and "truthfulness,"replacing these terms with"accurate and factual information." The amendment was unanimously approved. Ms. O'Hara then reiterated the intent of the bill, which is to protect the public. The bill is constituent driven due to complaints from people regarding the county's ability to be truthful. Mr. Chung commented that when cross-referenced with what is now in the County Charter, the bill seems to match it verbatim. He feels this is something that should be under the Code of Conduct. Ms. Lee Loy stated she agrees with the intent of the bill but feels this should be something left up to the Charter Commission. Your Committee on Finance is in accord with the purpose and intent of Bill 160, as amended to Draft 2, and recommends its passage on first reading. dmm AYES NOES ABS EX Respectfully submitted, CHUNG X DAVID x COMMITTEE ON FINANCE EOFF X KANUHA X LEE LOY. X O'HARA X111110.114111evi... .011,_ __ POINDEXTER x MAILE DAVID A RICHARDS X FC REPORT NO.: 135 RUGGLES X ADOPTED: SEP 0 5 2.018