LIHU‘E — For the second time in as many years, the Kaua‘i Board of Ethics has expressed support for two bills in the state Legislature that would give the individual counties further authority to levy fines for ethical violations. Responding
LIHU‘E — For the second time in as many years, the Kaua‘i Board of Ethics has expressed support for two bills in the state Legislature that would give the individual counties further authority to levy fines for ethical violations.
Responding to letters from Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., Hawai‘i County Mayor Billy Kenoi and City and County of Honolulu Ethics Commission Director Charles Totto, the board passed by a 6-1 vote a motion to reiterate its continued support for House Bill 626 and Senate Bill 531 and send correspondence to all four counties to that effect.
Counties are already empowered by Section 46-1.5(24)(A) of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes to impose civil fines for violations of county ordinances after making reasonable requests to the violator to correct or cease their action, a procedure “appropriate for most administrative matters,” according to the text of SB 531.
However, because “ethics violations may be either a one-time event or severe in nature whereby giving notice or warning of the improper behavior in accordance with the statute would be ineffective,” the bills, if passed into state law, would allow county ethics boards to issue fines when an ethics violation is “serious, obvious, and warrants a civil fine without a prior warning.”
In his letter to the board, Carvalho said he supports the bills “under the principle of ‘home rule’” and believes “this statutory ambiguity should be clarified in favor of allowing the counties to determine the appropriate methodology and penalties for handling violations of the county’s Ethics Code.”
While the state bill would allow counties to impose fines, there is currently no county ordinance on the books to do so, Carvalho said.
“For this reason, I will refrain from commenting on this specific matter until such time that the board, in conjunction with the County Attorney’s Office, is prepared to propose and discuss possible legislation for consideration by the County Council,” Carvalho concluded.
Kenoi said all counties “recognize the need to enforce our codes in a meaningful way to boost public confidence in county government.”
“Administrative fines are a tool our ethics panels can use to demonstrate that our ethics codes indeed have “teeth,” and Hawai‘i state law should make that tool available for use in each county,” Kenoi wrote.
“To the unscrupulous, there is no significant penalty for misconduct in office,” Totto wrote.
Vice Chair Mark Hubbard was the lone dissenter in the vote, saying he was concerned a future board might go back and fine him for appearing before the County Council on behalf of the Kaua‘i Planning and Action Alliance in June 2009, an action his colleagues determined last month was not a violation of County Charter Section 20.02D.
Both HB 626, introduced by Waipahu Democrat Jon Riki Karamatsu, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and SB 531, introduced by Manoa Democrat Brian Taniguchi, chair of the Senate Judiciary and Government Operations Committee, were carried over to 2010 from the 2009 session, but neither have seen a status update this year.
For more information on HB 626 and SB 531, visit www.capitol.hawaii.gov.
