Ethics bills address travel, pCards, contracts and Board of Ethics

The Hawaii County Council on Tuesday mulled a trio of ethics bills covering everything from official travel and pCard use to county contracts to the composition of the Board of Ethics itself.

The council voted 9-0 for Bill 78, tightening the county code on travel and purchasing card use.

The bill, sponsored by Puna Councilwoman Greggor Ilagan and amended by Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, clarifies that public money must be spent for a public purpose. It also requires an authorized exception for purchases of alcohol and all gifts more than $100. The Finance Department director must keep a record of all authorized exceptions that is available to the public.

“We’re adding some sunlight to this,” said Wille. “The public is going to know how we’re spending the money in these areas.”

Ilagan sponsored the bill after a well-publicized lapse by Mayor Billy Kenoi in his pCard use resulted in an ongoing criminal investigation by the state attorney general. The bill now goes to Kenoi for signature, veto or approval without his signature.

The contracting bill, Bill 37, sponsored by Wille, received a 9-0 stamp of approval on its first of two readings. A similar bill sponsored by Kenoi in 2009 bounced for months between the County Council and Board of Ethics, without winning approval by either body.

The bill, in its fifth draft after months of discussion, started with an absolute ban on county employees or their families holding county contracts for outside work. In subsequent drafts, the bill stepped back to become a ban on contracts over $10,000, then on contracts over $50,000, and finally, allowing the contracts as long as the county employee clears it with the Board of Ethics first.

Contracts would be void if the employee doesn’t get clearance from the Board of Ethics. The bill also expands the definition of immediate family to include the employee’s spouse, siblings, children, grandparents and parents.

Other parts of the bill prohibit county officers or employees from representing private interests against the county or appearing on behalf of private interests before county agencies. And, the bill clarifies that county property, facilities, time, equipment and personnel can be used only for a public purpose, and not for private business or campaign purposes.

The third bill, Bill 101, remained in the Finance Committee after a protracted discussion by seven of the nine council members. Council Chairman Dru Kanuha and Council Vice Chairwoman Valerie Poindexter were absent, having left for a mainland trip. The bill will next be taken up on Nov. 17.

Bill 101 would place a charter amendment on the 2016 ballot asking voters if the current five-member Board of Ethics should be expanded to a nine-member board, with board members selected from each of the nine council districts.

The proposed charter amendment also changes how the board members are appointed. Instead of being appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council, two nominees would be appointed by the council member representing each council district. The mayor would then select one of the nominees and that appointee would be confirmed by the council.

If the structure is changed, it would make Hawaii County different from the three other counties. Honolulu and Kauai each have seven-member boards appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council. Maui’s nine-member board is selected the same way.

Wille, the sponsor of the bill, said a change is needed because there are two vacancies on the five-member board and meetings have to be canceled because of a lack of a quorum. In addition, all three members must agree for any action to occur. She also noted that all members are from Hilo and meetings are held only in Hilo, further limiting islandwide representation and public access to the board.

“This is an issue of trust in government and I would like to hear what the public says,” Wille said.

The League of Women Voters favor a change. Co-president Donna Oda said one seat has been vacant since January 2014 and the other since the beginning of this year. Three of the 10 recent monthly meetings, including a meeting set for Oct. 14, had to be canceled because of a lack of a quorum.

But several council members, in particular Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, said it’s impossible to take politics out of the appointment process.

“Whenever you have political people involved in the decision to place people in an ethics board, you’re going to have problems with that,” Chung said. “The vacancies are symptomatic of problem. And that’s the political nature of the issue.”

He said adding more council participation in the selection may “dilute” the politics, but it won’t eliminate it.

“You still can’t divorce politics from this formula,” Chung said.