That gleam in your eye? You can thank the developer of Symphony Honolulu, which will be allowed to keep the super-shiny glass covering the luxury condominium tower rising at the corner of Kapiolani and Ward.

A rule by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which prohibits “highly reflective” windows on buildings under its jurisdiction, was deemed to be too vague to enforce against Symphony’s highly reflective windows.

It’s a case of the letter (or lack thereof) of the law trumping its spirit. With 45 percent reflectivity, Symphony’s glass is about as reflective as you can buy, according to HCDA.

But never mind. Symphony offered to contribute $1 million that can be used to mitigate the glare, in addition to paying the maximum $2,000 fine for failing to follow the rule, and $24,000 for the HCDA’s glass consultant. It’s better than nothing, but not as good as a clear rule, rigorously enforced.

Ethics director just doing his job

On the one hand, the public should want the Ethics Commission to be probing state officials to see that everything’s on the up and up.

On the other hand, it’s plain that state Rep. Matt LoPresti and House Speaker Joe Souki feel put-upon by Les Kondo, commission executive director, for asking questions about the "Cool Schools 4 Ewa" project. There’s no official complaint, they said, so why all the questions? And it’s a project for the kids, so …

But wait. No. There is no other hand. The commission shouldn’t need to stand on ceremony before asking questions. Kondo is doing the right thing, so lawmakers really need to suppress the urge to feel offended.