Hawaii’s public offices are not so public

Visiting state government offices can be hard these days in Hawaii, where security guards, discouraging signs, locked doors and cordoned-off public parking are impeding access to services and information.

All of these obstacles are in place possibly due to “safety concerns and challenges” after the removal earlier this year of requirements for the public to show COVID-19 vaccination or negative test documentation before being admitted into many state buildings.

What has evolved since then is an inconsistent — and sometimes confounding — slate of requirements for public access to places including the Legislature and state agencies such as the Department of Taxation, Land Use Commission, Energy Office, Bureau of Conveyances and more.

For instance, a public reference room for researching real estate records at the Bureau of Conveyances is in a building with locked ground-floor doors.

At the State Office Tower, which houses numerous agencies, a security guard in the building’s lobby recently advised that a prior appointment was necessary to visit the Land Use Commission despite the LUC not having any such requirement.

Security guards posted in the entryway of the Princess Ruth Keelikolani building housing the Tax Department and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations are only requiring visitors to show identification for entry. However, signs at the security checkpoint state that entry won’t be permitted if a person tested positive for coronavirus within 14 days, has been in close contact with someone who was positive in the past 14 days, has traveled outside the state within 14 days or has coronavirus symptoms.

Good government

Heather Ferguson, director of state operations for the Hawaii chapter of the good-government advocacy organization Common Cause, said it’s concerning that different rules exist without explanation, consistency or effective notice.

“It’s confusing for the public,” she said.

Ferguson said addressing security and safety concerns is appropriate — especially in a more highly politically charged, divisive and sometimes threatening or violent society. But she also said that restrictions to government services and information should not surprise people trying to access such things.

“It just feels like a lot more information would be useful to the public,” she said.

The state Department of Accounting and General Serv­ices manages 10% of state building facilities throughout Hawaii, and said other agencies might have different building access policies.

“Each building presents different health and safety concerns and challenges,” Audrey Hidano, DAGS director, said in a statement. “Building tenants have elected to handle building and security access differently based on facility logistics.”

Hidano or someone else at DAGS was not available to review building access protocols, or say how long they might last, at buildings managed by DAGS, including the state Capitol and the building containing the Bureau of Conveyances public reference room.

Evolution of rules

The Capitol, where the Legislature was in session from Jan. 19 to May 5, reopened to the public March 7 with a coronavirus vaccination or negative test requirement enforced at new security checkpoints. Public parking in the building, however, didn’t reopen on March 7 and remains closed. Other nearby public parking lots — at the Vineyard Garage, Kalanimoku Building and Kinau Hale — are open.

Health screening for entry to the Capitol was discontinued in late March, though procedures remained for security guards requiring ID verification from visitors who are issued stickers or wristbands to display while in the building.

A current public notice posted on the Legislature’s website states that the policies requiring ID and barring public parking at the Capitol, which also contains the governor’s office, are subject to change and may be adjusted based on evolving COVID-19 guidelines.

At the Kalanimoku Building, which houses divisions of DAGS and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the main entry doors have been locked for some time.

Pasted to the locked glass doors are lists of DAGS and DLNR divisions with phone numbers to contact. On the inside of the doors is a sign that reads, “This door is to remain locked at all times. For our safety when leaving or entering, please look back to see if the door is locked.”

A phone number for the Bureau of Conveyances in the building connects to an automated system to answer frequently asked questions that don’t include how to get into the building. Callers also have an option to leave a message and receive a call back within two business days.

The agency, which is part of DLNR and maintains land records dating back to the mid-1800s, announced March 23 that it would reopen to the public March 28 with “unrestricted access” and no appointments necessary.

Dan Dennison, DLNR’s senior communications manager, said in an email that DAGS controls access to the building and that a door to the building in its underground parking garage is unlocked during business hours and provides public access.

“I know frustration has been expressed about the (ground-floor) doors being locked, but it is totally out of our control,” he said.

At the State Office Tower, also known as Leiopapa a Kamehameha, a security guard recently prevented public access to the Land Use Commission office without an advance appointment, and instead provided a phone number to make an appointment.

Dan Orodenker, LUC director, was surprised and said he thought the guard was mistaken, given that the LUC has no such policy.

The security guard also said no advance appointment was required to visit the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, but was unsure what the policy was for the state Energy Office or whether that agency was even in the building. It is.

Similar security stations also exist at buildings housing the Department of Transportation Highways Division, Department of Education and administrative offices for the Department of Human Resources. At the latter two agencies, advance appointments are required, and visitors are required to check in with security and wear visitor passes.

To be sure, security measures have long existed at some local government institutions, including state courts. Visitors to the city’s office tower, the Frank Fasi Municipal Building, for many years have to leave an ID with security and wear a visitor pass in the building.

This year, however, has been one laden with exceptional vitriol toward many Hawaii government officials.

Charged atmosphere

At a May 5 Board of Education meeting in the Queen Li­liuokalani Building on Miller Street, which also houses DOE and has a security checkpoint in the lobby where visitors must show identification and have an appointment, then-candidate for governor BJ Penn promised to replace all board members if he got elected.

“All you guys gone,” the retired mixed martial arts champion said at the meeting. Penn, who was testifying in opposition to continued mask requirements in public schools, also directed his ire to DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi, who was sitting behind Penn when Penn got up to speak.

“Where’s Hayashi?” Penn asked. “You gone, brah,” he said after turning around. “You don’t care about our kids.”

Penn lost the Republican primary contest to James “Duke” Aiona on Aug. 13, with 19,817 votes to 37,608 votes for Aiona.

At a Sept. 16 meeting of the state Elections Commission in a State Office of Elections building in Pearl City, people who wanted to testify in person had to do so from another room via video relay.

Cory “Da Pittbull” Asuncion, who wore a BJ Penn campaign headband, scolded commissioners for the arrangement and suggested that they would be going to prison for their role in the recent election.

“It’s very simple,” he told the commission and Scott Nago, the state’s chief election officer. “If there is honesty, you would stand and shake our hand and say, ‘How you guys doing?’ But when you hide behind closed doors, it only shows you guilty.”

Asuncion continued, “You guys know what you guys did in this election. What happened to the vote? What’s going on? It’s in your head. Is it really worth it? … If I was you, throw in the towel. This election was rigged and we know it.”