hunterbishop.com

I just read Jason Armstrong's story in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald today about Judge De Silva's report on the Police Commission and was struck by Councilwoman Brenda Ford's notion of open government.

Ford is "calling for an executive session to have her several questions answered. The questions include, among others, concern about police accountability, protecting officers' privacy and who would have oversight over the new department."

Those would be excellent questions. Why can't she ask them in public so we can all have the benefit of the answers? There's nothing in the newspaper's description of what she wants to know that would warrant such an "executive" session as far as I can see.

However the agenda  for the meeting says Ford wants the session "to hold attorney-client discussion on the legal aspects" of proposed Bill 270, which initiates a County Charter amendment to set up an independent County office on police oversight and complaints. But even casting the "attorney-client" net over her questions doesn't pass the test either, in my opinion. Why can't the County attorney publicly address questions about the potential legality of any proposed legislation? What harm is there in exposing a potentially illegal bill that hasn't been adopted unless the Council moved forward with it anyway. Wouldn't that something the public should know?

Too often the Hawaii County Council has been willing to seek privacy at the public's expense. I would hope this time the Council opts for a better and higher sense of public responsibility and doesn't keep citizens and media in the dark on discussions of important public issues again.

The Public Works and Inter-Governmental Relations Committee of the Council is set to begin this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers.