Ex-Sierra Club Director Robert D. Harris to lead ethics panel

Robert D. Harris, an attorney perhaps best known for leading the Sierra Club of Hawaii, took over Monday as the new executive director and general counsel for the Hawaii State Ethics Commission.

The commission is charged with ensuring all state employees and elected officials adhere to ethical standards.

“High ethical behavior is critical to a well-functioning democracy,” Harris told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on his first day on the job. “It’s important for people to know the rules.”

Harris replaced Daniel Gluck, who resigned in 2021 after the state Senate failed to confirm Gluck’s nomination to the Intermediate Court of Appeals following two days of testimony, including that more qualified and diverse candidates had been overlooked.

During a Judiciary Committee hearing, state Sen. Chris Lee (D, Hawaii Kai- Waimanalo-Kailua) said Gluck was unafraid to speak “truth to power” and “held us all accountable.”

Before the start of the last legislative session, Gluck issued new guidance on a variety of topics including “Gifts and Fair Treatment,” “Conflicts of Interests,” “Post-Employment Restrictions and Contracts” and “Lobbying.” In a Dec. 7 memo, Gluck told lobbyists that “Gifts from lobbyists and their clients — to legislators and legislative staff — are generally prohibited.”

Harris said “this office has been (doing) really well the past few years, and morale is high. I want to be careful about not breaking something.”

Instead, Harris said he intends to “spend time over the next few months to understand what the commission is doing well and what can be improved.”

In a statement, Ethics Commission Chairwoman Melinda Wood said Harris “has the right mix of public policy, litigation, and managerial experience to excel in this role. He additionally demonstrates the needed interpersonal skills, temperament, and perspective for this position, along with a willingness to consider competing points of view on complicated ethics matters.”

Harris previously served as director of public policy in Hawaii and California for solar provider Sunrun.

He graduated from Kalaheo High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry/environmental science. He graduated cum laude and served as editor of the UH Law Review at the UH William S. Richardson School of Law.

Harris then clerked for now-retired Hawaii Supreme Court Associate Justice Simeon R. Acoba Jr. and worked in private practice for Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, where his cases included issues concerning the environment, insurance and commercial litigation.

Harris was director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii from 2008 to 2016 before joining Sunrun.