The Honolulu City Council's Planning and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee passed a resolution on Oct. 26, 2005, which asks the Hawaii State Legislature to exempt council members on Oahu and in Hawaii's three other counties from the Hawaii State Sunshine Law in the 2006 Legislative session.
Voting for the measure were Council Vice Chair Ann Kobayashi, Committee Chair Romy Cachola and Council member Barbara Marshall -- in opposition were two council members, Charles Djou and Nestor Garcia.
The entire City Council will vote on the proposal on Nov. 9, 2005, at City Hall.
The Maui County Council proposed the change, noting the Hawaii State Legislature already exempts lawmakers from the Sunshine Law, and mandates they follow the Open Government Law, which has more lax requirements.
Council members on all islands in favor of the measure say the Office of Information Practices, which interprets the Sunshine Law and issues reports on whether council members violated the law, is making it difficult to conduct business effectively. They want the right to make their own open meeting requirements.
Opposing the measure are all open government advocates in the state, including Les Kondo, who currently heads the Office of Information Practices.
Gov. Linda Lingle today on KHVH New Radio said she is opposed to the measure, and would be surprised if state lawmakers advocated for the change in an election year. She said people on the neighbor islands in particular are already not happy with some of the actions of their council members and that the least they should be able to expect is council members debating the issues in public.
Here is the resolution:
WHEREAS, the state sunshine law, codified as Chapter 92, Part I, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, sets forth provisions on open meeting, meeting notice, and other
requirements for most state and county boards and commissions (termed collectively
“open meeting provisions” for this Resolution); and
WHEREAS, the sunshine law has been interpreted to apply to each county
council, but the state legislature has chosen to make the law inapplicable to itself; and
WHEREAS, the intent of the sunshine law to provide for governmental decision-making
at open public meetings is laudable; and
WHEREAS, relatively recent interpretations of the sunshine law by the state
office of information practices, however, have made it difficult for the county councils to
carry out their legislative duties and responsibilities and conduct the councils’ business
in an effective manner; and
WHEREAS, primarily for this reason, the Maui county council has requested the
county councils to include in the 2006 legislative package of the Hawaii state
association of counties (HSAC) a proposal to (1) make the sunshine law inapplicable to
each county council and (2) require each county council to establish open meeting
provisions by its own rules and procedures; and
WHEREAS, the proposal is intended to (1) result in equal treatment under the
sunshine law between the county councils and state legislature (2) acknowledge that,
as elected officials of a legislative body, county councilmembers are ultimately
accountable to the electorate alone and not to the oversight of a state agency consisting
of an officer appointed by the governor and (3) conform to the mandate in Art. VIII, Sec.
2 of the Hawaii Constitution which grants matters relating to a political subdivision’s
executive, legislative and administrative structure and organization superiority over state
statutory provisions; and
WHEREAS, the unanimous approval of the four county councils is necessary for
the inclusion of a proposal in the 2006 HSAC legislative package.
Here is how to contact your council members
City Council, Phone: 547-7000, General Fax: 523-4220
Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com
