LIHU‘E — The Board of Ethics changed one of its rules Thursday, opting for the first time to hold its discussion of disclosure statements in open, rather than executive, session.
Disclosure statements are required for all county personnel within 30 days of taking office or within 30 days of any change in information, and include a list of property owned within the county, business interests and sources of income, among other details.
After repeated urging from concerned citizen Rob Abrew, the board amended Rule 3.2 to say “Disclosures filed with the board are public record” and Rule 3.3 now begins that “Each disclosure will be reviewed by the board for conflicts of interest,” removing two references to executive session.
The motion, made by Mark Hubbard, passed unanimously.
“My rationale … is since these disclosures are public records, and everything in there is public record, so I see no reason to review them in executive session,” Hubbard said. “I know that’s in conflict with what we’ve done in the past and in conflict with the feelings of some board members.”
Private information such as telephone numbers and home addresses will be redacted by staff before being released to the public.
Discussion of whether to remove the requirement that interests held by immediate family members be included on disclosure statements — board member Paul Weil said doing so would create “an opening 10 miles wide” — was tabled until the Aug. 13 meeting.
Later in Thursday’s meeting, the board opted to review five disclosure statements in public, even though the rule change had not yet taken effect.
The five disclosures were filed by Cost Control Commissioners Michelle Swartman and Randy Finlay, Board of Water members Dee Crowell and Roy Oyama, and new Department of Water Manager David Craddick.
The Board of Ethics approved only Oyama’s disclosure statement, determining that the other four were either incomplete, showed potential conflicts of interest, or both.
Finlay said after Monday’s Cost Control Commission meeting that he was loathe to include further information about private business interests in the filing, saying that he might resign his post if asked to divulge more and acknowledging that because the island is so small, Kaua‘i government can be “incestuous.”
A formal request to access the five government records was filed Monday by The Garden Island. There had been no response as of Tuesday afternoon. The Office of Boards and Commissions has 10 business days to respond, and will likely consult with the Office of the County Attorney during that time, staff said.
