• Getting off on the wrong foot • Don’t blame the guidebooks • Some wise counsel Getting off on the wrong foot In light of all the recent commotion about our new County Council, I thought this might be a
• Getting off on the wrong foot
• Don’t blame the guidebooks
• Some wise counsel
Getting off on the wrong foot
In light of all the recent commotion about our new County Council, I thought this might be a good time to mention an important ruling by the state’s Office of Information Practices (OIP), which seems to have been overlooked on Kaua‘i since it was issued on March 14, 2008.
OIP is the agency charged with administering the “sunshine” or “open records” laws of Hawai‘i. A review of this particular opinion might help our new council avoid getting off on the wrong foot — again.
The Maui County Council had requested an opinion from OIP regarding whether council members may attend and participate in a meeting of a committee when they are not assigned as committee members (“non-members”).
OIP’s Opinion Letter No. 080-01 states that the Sunshine Law does not permit non-members of any council committee to participate in that committee’s meetings “…because the resulting discussion of council business among the various council members, consisting of both committee members and non-members, constitutes a meeting of the council that does not conform to the requirements of the Sunshine Law.”
Referring to a County Council as the “parent board” of each committee, the opinion goes on to say, “The Sunshine Law requires board members to discuss matters involving board business in a properly noticed meeting of their board absent an applicable exception … where non-members attend and participate in a committee meeting, the combined attendance of committee members and non-members must be viewed as a discussion by them as members of the parent board — i.e., the council — of parent board business, which may not occur outside of a properly noticed council meeting.”
The complete text, as well as a summary of the opinion and other information can be found at www.hawaii.gov/oip
Over the years I have attended many council meetings and committee meetings (which are held on alternate weeks). This year it has been business as usual, even since the OIP opinion was issued in March. During committee meetings, first the actual committee members speak and then everyone else is allowed to speak and take part in the discussion. It is true that only the actual committee members vote, but the votes are taken after a full discussion by all seven council members.
Does this mean our county attorney should examine all the committee minutes since March 14 and declare void those decisions made in violation of these particular Sunshine Law violations? Does this mean all bills passed since that date would now have to be remanded back to the appropriate committees for reconsideration?
I apologize for not bringing this up earlier in the year, but it is not my job to monitor OIP actions and I became aware of this ruling only recently. However, it is, or should be, the job of someone at our Kauai County Council to make sure all OIP rulings are followed.
• Barbara Elmore, Lihu‘e
Don’t blame the guidebooks
I have visited your beautiful island eight times in the last 10 years. My visits were all greatly enhanced from the knowledge and information imparted to me from “The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook” (“Guidebooks and Queen’s Bath,” Letters, Dec. 3).
I have hiked, biked and visited most all the sites mentioned or described in this guide. Never once have I had a problem that could be blamed on any of this information. Information is not the problem. People who ignore the warnings or do not take them seriously are.
Banning visitors at certain sites is not an answer and not in the spirit of aloha that I have come to love about your culture. If you must, post warnings and information on past incidents and how to avoid the same but please do not start restricting access to parts of this paradise.
Blaming a guidebook is not only an exercise in futility, but is an attempt to place blame where it does not belong, the responsibility lies with the individual. I can respect your concern for safety but your concerns are misplaced. I will continuue to use and recommend “The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook” as it greatly enhances the “Kaua‘i” experience. I will assure you that if something should befall me on my next visit, I or my family will not blame the guidebook.
• Jeffrey Pignona, Fairfield, Vt.
Some wise counsel
In a national broadcast this past Monday, Dec. 1, 2008, President Bush announced that he will be stepping up the military security forces within our nation. The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or a potential civil unrest following a total economic collapse.
Living here on Kaua‘i brings comfort to my heart. Because we live on a beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific, it will isolate us from all the terrible events that will take place on the Mainland. But living in isolation has its drawbacks; as an island, we are dependent on shipping for delivery of approximately 90 to 95 percent of our commodities and goods for survival. If for some unknown reason shipping was to slow down or cease, food production is hampered, or our personal retirement funds went insolvent, how would we on a little island like Kaua‘i respond?
The church that I attend has for years admonished its members to store a year’s supply of food for each household member, stay out of debt, avoid interest because of debt, and continue to upgrade skills in case a career change is needed. Sorry to say, I didn’t follow their counsel, but I will, starting now. Maybe as an island/people we can all take some wise counsel. From one brudda to another.
• Myron Lindsey, Koloa
