There’s never a shortage of controversy when it comes to Oahu’s rail system, an interminable $11.4 billion project belabored by delays and cost overruns.

Some of the shortcomings have been beyond the control of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), some of it is of debatable origin, but at any rate the last thing the agency or its governing board needs is bad publicity that is self-inflicted.

And yet, here we are: The HART board is requiring certain appointees, the four nonvoting members appointed by the state Legislature, to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition of participating in both public board meetings and closed executive sessions.

Two of those appointees, Natalie Iwasa and Jeoffrey S. Cudiamat, have declined to sign — and they are right. The state Attorney General’s Office says the HART board does not have the right to impose the confidentiality agreement on the nonvoting members; the city’s corporation counsel, though, says the board has the legal right to insist on it.

Some level of confidentiality seems reasonable, given that board members are privy to proprietary, trade-secret-type information from contractors and the government. But the HART agreement is unreasonably heavy-handed, requiring the board member to guard anything deemed confidential against loss or theft, and never leave it unattended, copy it, talk about it or give it to anyone outside the HART circle. It also disallows taking notes on or recording privileged verbal conversations.

And it calls for criminal penalties for violations.

Iwasa, one of the more vocal board members when it come to questioning HART actions, says she would always honor confidentiality, signed agreement or not. Her concern is potentially facing criminal charges should she unknowingly let something escape the net.

Colleen Hanabusa, HART board chairwoman, said the board’s legislative appointees do not — and should not — take the county oath of office, so the nondisclosure agreement is necessary to protect confidential matters.

The attorney general’s justifiable opinion, however, is that board members cannot be held to different standards based upon who appointed them.

So far, Iwasa has been barred from an executive session evaluating the performance of Lori Kahikina, HART’s CEO, a pretty big deal. Cudiamat would have been barred as well, but missed the meeting for other reasons.

HART cannot afford this distraction, and more bad optics. The board needs to drop the nondisclosure agreement, and move on.