Senators from Maui County want ‘Sunshine Law’ relaxed

Elected officials from Maui County are urging the Legislature to relax the state’s open-meetings law in a way that would allow several County Council members to attend community or private meetings and discuss Council business during those meetings.

Senate Bill 1210 potentially would also apply to an array of other state and county governing boards and commissions that are subject to the open-meetings law, including agencies such as the county planning commissions, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, and the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.

Currently, the state’s "Sunshine Law" prohibits unofficial or private meetings where more than two members of a government panel attend and discuss official business.

The Senate bill would loosen the law to allow more than two members of city, state or county governing boards to meet in private or in community settings to discuss official business. The bill would permit those meetings as long as no commitments are made on how the panel members will vote, and provided that a quorum of the Council or board members is not present.

The bill is co-sponsored by Maui Sens. Gilbert Keith-Agaran (D, Wai­hee-Wai­luku-Kahu­lui), Rosalyn Baker (D, West Maui-South Maui) and J. Kalani English (East Maui-Upcountry-Molo­kai-Lanai), and is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee.

Maui County Council Chairman Mike White said in written testimony that this relaxing of the Sunshine Law "would improve council members’ ability to engage with the public and be informed about issues facing their district and their county."

Maui’s nine County Council members are elected in countywide races, and members often want to attend the same community meetings at the same time to discuss issues pending before the Council. However, under the current law, no more than two Council members can attend such meetings at a time to explain or discuss official business.

"Compliance with state law has required council members to leave community meetings or decline invitations," White said in written comments on the bill. "Attending these public meetings will not jeopardize openness in government because council members do not have control over agendas, discussions, or outcomes of meetings conducted by non-council members."

Gerald Kato, associate professor of journalism in the University of Hawaii School of Communications, said the bill amounts to overkill as it seeks to alter the framework of the statewide Sunshine Law to address an issue specific to Maui.

The Sunshine Law is designed to make government more accessible and transparent to the people, and is based on the idea that government should not be conducted in secret, Kato said.

To alter the framework of the law to accommodate Maui "runs contrary to the letter and the spirit of the law," he said.

English said Maui voters become upset when only two Council members attend community meetings, but that is what the current law requires.

"It has been a real problem because the community is more and more demanding, saying, ‘Where is the Council? How come the guys aren’t here?’" English said. "The Council people have basic constitutional rights, too. How come this law can say that they cannot go to any public gathering that they wish? I mean, any member of the public is guaranteed that, right?"