LIHU‘E — Transparency appears to be coming to Kaua‘i, one minute at a time. Kaua‘i County Council Chair Kaipo Asing and Vice Chair Jay Furfaro announced in a Thursday press release that after more than a year of planning, the
LIHU‘E — Transparency appears to be coming to Kaua‘i, one minute at a time.
Kaua‘i County Council Chair Kaipo Asing and Vice Chair Jay Furfaro announced in a Thursday press release that after more than a year of planning, the council’s Web site will include meeting minutes and memoranda of actions taken at council meetings, also called “recap memos.”
The placement of public documents, including meeting minutes, on the county’s Web site is one of four matters to be addressed at an upcoming council meeting after a communication introduced by Lani Kawahara and Tim Bynum was approved by all seven council members last month.
The communication requested agenda time at either the July 8 or July 22 meeting to discuss council members’ access to the agenda, equitable and timely circulation of council service documents, general access to information by the public and council members, and putting documents online.
The agenda for the July 8 meeting was posted Thursday; it does not contain an item pertaining to the communication approved June 16. While some of Bynum and Kawahara’s requests remain unaddressed, it appears one major gripe has been rectified.
“I’m very happy for the public, and I think this is a great thing,” Kawahara said in a Thursday evening phone interview. “I’d like to thank and congratulate my fellow council members for a job well done.
“From June 3 (when she and Bynum first made a motion to address the issues) to now, I think we’ve made a big step in making the County Council more transparent and answerable to constituents,” Kawahara said. “It’s a good first step and we’re looking forward to those other issues being reconciled also.”
Putting the meeting minutes and recap memos online is part of a county-wide effort, the press release said, noting that the documents were always available in hard copy upon request.
“The implementation of posting council minutes was delayed by several factors,” the release said, “including the untimely passing of the late Mayor Bryan Baptiste, the complex subsequent transition in county leadership, the special 2008 mayoral election, the relocation of the Office of the County Clerk — Elections Division, and the seating of a new council.”
Minutes for the May 20 meeting were already placed online Thursday, as were recap memos for meetings of May 20, May 27, June 3, June 10 and June 16. The documents can be accessed by going to www.kauai.gov, clicking on “County Council” and then “Council Documents.”
Additional meeting minutes and recap memos will be added on an ongoing basis, the release said.
Bynum and Kawahara have already placed minutes dating back to Feb. 25 on their independent Web site, kauaiinfo.org.
“The council’s capability to yet further upgrade its Web presence will be improved with planned upgrades to Historic County Building wiring late this year and next year,” the release said.
