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Politics, Media, Commentary
Politics, Media, Commentary Monday
27Aug
County thumbs nose at openness again
Monday, August 27, 2007 at 12:59AM 
A sidebar to last week's Honolulu Star-Bulletin story on the Kilauea lava flow, which was in the newspaper's print edition but not on its Web site (an image of the article is published here with this post), described a meeting of highly dubious legality that the Hawaii County Council held to discuss the lava flow with Mayor Harry Kim and HVO scientist Jim Kauahikaua.
The meeting was not advertised or noticed to the public, which is such an obvious affront to the principles of openness that it is mind-boggling no one who took part objected. The mayor's contention that the public was not excluded from attending is a hollow assurance if the public doesn't know the meeting was being held in the first place.
The Big Island Press Club (I'm a member of the BIPC board) will be seeking a formal opinion from the Office of Information Practices but there seem to be no penalties or remedy to apply. Perhaps that's why Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida blithely allowed the meeting, or "briefing," to occur even though I'm certain he knew how wrong it was.
Ashida is a smart attorney who too often is willing to allow these breeches of the public trust to accommodate the public agencies and officials he considers his clients instead of the citizens of Hawaii County. It's certainly not the first time Ashida has allowed a cloud to be cast over the Council's actions on Sunshine matters.
This is just another flip of the finger to the public, openness, and the democratic process of government.
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Reader Comments (3)
If this meeting was due to an 'emergency', then there would need to be an 'emergency' to justify the full-Council 'briefing' being hastily and without taking the time to let anybody else know -- right? But, Mayor Kim and Mr. Kauahikaua had already said that we do not (yet) have an 'emergency.'
At least notifying the local media, including radio public service announcements to the public, or something of the sort would have shown good faith.
If a persone was inclined to be cynical, this affair could be interpreted as the same old paternalistic attitude toward the community, "The situation is too complex for you [county risidents] to understand. Public disclosure would just delay us [elected officials and appointees] in our mission. We know what we are doing. Trust us."
Openess and public notice mo betta.
Fred Koehnen, 1968 chairman of the initial charter commisssion, and the late Yasuki Arakaki, vice chair, constructed the formula carefully and it should be followed precisely.
All these council people swear to uphold the charter when they take office. And Prosecutor Jay Kimura is duty bound to enforce it as Paul de Silva once did effectively.
Why do we worry about Gonzalez and Bush when we have the same type of miscreants right here in Hilo city?. These are criminal violations, not civil bad acts.
Maybe 48 hours in overcrowded Hilo jail as a court sanction would have some curative effect.
While there are no penalties, one can ask the Council or the mayor's office or both for a copy of the minutes and any handouts from the meeting. If they are not turned over, OIP can probably get them. It's not the same as being there, but given that they held a secret meeting, perhas it's the best one can do.