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Hard to believe the old County Council could get -- and accept -- advice from a deputy county attorney that almost surely contradicts a state Office of Information Practices opinion issued just five months ago that chastised his boss, County Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, for giving the same advice.

Councilman Bob JacobsonHere's the setup. Ka'u Councilman Bob Jacobson wanted the new, Greener County Council to reconsider the old Council's Nov. 29 votes to approve General Plan amendments (Bill 251), and to OK a zoning change for the Kona  Coffee Estates project (Bill 309).

Jacobson cleverly devised a  plan based on the Council's Rule 17 that he thought would allow the new Council to have a shot at reversing the old Council's actions. Rule 17 allows such votes with certain restrictions, including that the motion for reconsideration be made by one of the majority voters and that it be put on the next meeting's agenda. The Council also gets only one shot at reconsideration under the rules.

So Jacobson's ploy was to vote with the majority on Nov. 29, even though he was opposed to the measures, so that he could offer the motion to reconsider, which he figured would come up for discussion and a vote by the new Council on Dec. 20, as the rules appear to indicate as proper procedure. West Hawaii Today reporter Tiffany Edwards reported Jacobson's plan following the Nov. 29 meeting.

But the old Council short-circuited Jacobson's plan by taking up the discussion and voting down the motion for reconsideration as its final act before disbanding Monday morning, an action that appears to violate not only the Council's own rules of procedure, but the state Sunshine law -- again.

In July the OIP issued an opinion at the Big Island Press Club's request that said the Council cannot act on any matter that is not on the Council's agenda except under certain circumstances. The OIP opinion said:

"An agenda may not be amended to add an item if it is of reasonably major importance and action on the item will affect a significant number of persons."

Here's the agenda for Monday morning's meeting, which says nothing about Jacobson's motion for reconsideration.  And it would be tough to argue for its last-minute addition to the agenda because the General Plan amendments and controversial Kona Coffee Estates project do affect a significant number of people.

Nevertheless, Deputy Corporation Counsel Ivan Torigoe inexplicably failed to recognize any problems and advised the new Council on Monday afternoon that the old Council acted properly at Monday morning's final meeting.

Now the question is likely to be whether the new Council will get another shot at the bills if Monday morning's action is moot for apparently violating not only County Council Rules, but the same state Sunshine law that the Council was cited for violating earlier this year. "I think what happened this morning was illegal," said new Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford on Monday.

New Council Chairman Pete Hoffmann brusquely swept the matter aside by advising Jacobson and Ford to take their complaints to the OIP. 

Another question might be whether some Council members willfully violated the state Sunshine law given the fact that it was cited for the same violation within the previous six months. That finding could trigger criminal sanctions against the lawmakers. Maybe they're just forgetful.