(Editor’s Note: Following is a letter Puna resident James Weatherford drafted in response to the Office of Information Practices opinion regarding the Sunshine Law violation by Hawaii County Council Members.)

“Thank you for responding to my request for investigation into whether members of the Hawaii County Council had violated the Sunshine Law.

I also thank you for your Memorandum Opinion dated December 18, 2009. At this time, I request clarification regarding the OIP findings and opinion as stated in that Memorandum.

In particular, the OIP findings are “…that no individual Council member directly spoke with more than three other Council members about the issue” and “that seven members of the Council were involved through serial communications.” Read the rest of this entry »

(Art Courtesy of Velvet Banana, a pro feminism & equal rights blog. Click here to visit.)

Lincoln Ashida

I just perused Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida’s June 23, 2009 opinion prepared for the Office of Information Practices regarding Hawaii County Council Member’s recent Sunshine Law violation. I have got to say that I’m pretty disappointed with our head county attorney.  I do understand that Lincoln Ashida is in the precarious position of defending the County Council, and really that is the only way I can justify the five pages of b.s. that I just read. 

Of course, Lincoln Ashida can’t come out and say that council members are guilty as hell of a misdemeanor and every one of them who is in violation of the Sunshine Law should spend some time on the side of the road picking up litter or holding a sign for passersby that reads, “I promise never again to violate the Sunshine Law.” No,  Lincoln Ashida has to craft an opinion in which he tries to convince his buddies at OIP that the Sunshine Law violation was inadvertent, that it’s not the blatant disregard for the open meetings law and the public’s right to know that it appears to be. Read the rest of this entry »

"Why are they working at the wee hours of the night to force these things through?" — Brenda Ford

 In hopes of redemption, Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford asked the Office of Information Practices (OIP) yesterday to look into what she believes to be a Sunshine Law violation amongst her colleagues on the Hawaii County Council. She joins Puna resident James Weatherford, Big Island Chronicle, and West Hawaii Today in making a complaint to OIP.

 Brenda Ford first contacted OIP on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 and then again on Friday, June 12, 2009 for a separate matter she did not want to discuss with the Big Island Chronicle.   After the call to OIP that Friday “on a totally different issue,” Brenda Ford called County Clerk Kenny Goodenow.  ”I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news,” she said Kenny Goodenow told her upon revealing there were “reorganization resolutions” on the agenda. “J and I don’t support them,” she recalls the County Clerk telling her.

Brenda Ford got off the telephone and checked out her Council board containing the meeting agenda and accompanying legislation and correspondence, which a courier had brought over from the Hilo office that same day. It was then that she discovered the three resolutions introduced by freshman councilors Guy Enriques and Dennis “Fresh” Onishi.  Upon reviewing the resolutions, she placed yet another call to the OIP to voice her concern for a Sunshine Law violation. 

“I’m not complaining about the reorganization. Whether I like it or not, it’s legal,” Brenda Ford said.  Read the rest of this entry »

We may have our differences, but West Hawaii Today (WHT) editor Reed Flickinger and I have a common cause: the Sunshine law. We both are keenly interested in the public’s right to know and preserving the integrity of the state law ensuring open meetings, as weak as it may be.  

Kudos to Reed Flickinger for teaming up with bulldog Kona attorney Robert Kim to write a letter to the Office of Information Practices (OIP) protesting the Hawaii County Council’s apparent Sunshine Law violation.  As you know by my constant coverage of the leadership reorganization and committee consolidation in the last week, I have been in contact with the OIP, along with Puna resident James Weatherford.  I understand Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford has also been in contact with OIP as well, but that is the subject of another blog entry. 

“The council has a right to reorganize, but the council is mandated to follow the law,” Reed Flickinger said for an article by Erin Miller published in today’s paper. “We can’t sit idly by while the council ignores the law.” Read the rest of this entry »