HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.187         
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A STUDY
    CONCERNING NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES AND THE
    APPLICABILITY OF THE "SUNSHINE LAW".
 


 1        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Board System was established in
 2   1973 and the purpose of neighborhood boards is to "increase and
 3   assure effective citizen participation in the decisions of
 4   government" (section 14-101, Revised Charter of the City and
 5   County of Honolulu 1973 (1994 edition)); and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, section 1-7.1 of the Revised Neighborhood Plan
 8   1986 (1993 edition) as amended on October 15, 1996 sets forth
 9   the powers, duties, and functions of a neighborhood board and
10   addresses regular and special meetings of a neighborhood board
11   (section 1-7.1(g) and (h)) but is silent as to committee
12   meetings, and sections 4-7.1 and 4-7.2 concerning meetings and
13   notice also address regular, special, and rescheduled meetings
14   but is silent as to committee meetings; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, section 4-7.2(c) concerning notice of meetings
17   states in its entirety that "[a]ll boards shall comply with
18   chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes" which may or may not
19   include committee activities, and as chapter 92 is not set
20   forth or otherwise included in the Revised Neighborhood Plan
21   publication, it is not readily available for the Neighborhood
22   Board System members or the public; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, the only other Revised Neighborhood Plan
25   references to committees are at section 4-5.2(a)(7) which
26   states the duty of the board chair to "[a]ppoint all committee
27   chairs, unless otherwise directed by the board", section
28   4-5.2(a)(10) which directs the board chair to "[p]romptly make
29   the proper referral of matters brought before the board to the
30   appropriate committee(s)", and "Rule No. 6.1, Committees" which
31   reads in its entirety:
32   
33        Sec. 4-6.1  The board shall be entitled to form
34        committees as necessary to carry out its function.
35        The function of such committees shall be to report

 
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 1        its findings and to propose recommendations to the
 2        neighborhood board for appropriate action.  No
 3        committee may speak for the board;
 4   
 5   and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, by letter dated May 5, 1998 from Neighborhood
 8   Commission Executive Secretary Benjamin Kama, Jr. to all
 9   Neighborhood Board chairs, accompanied by a letter dated
10   December 4, 1997 from Deputy Attorney General Charleen M. Aina
11   and a letter dated April 3, 1998 from Deputy Corporation
12   Counsel Jane H. Howell, both addressing the applicability of
13   chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the "Sunshine Law", to
14   Neighborhood Board committee activities, Mr. Kama advised the
15   Neighborhood Boards that committee meetings are subject to the
16   Sunshine Law and must be given public notice seven days in
17   advance, with an agenda, and the minutes must be recorded; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, in his May 5, 1998 letter, Mr. Kama also advised
20   that as the "Neighborhood Commission Office is structured and
21   budgeted for its staff to attend one meeting per board per
22   month", each board would be responsible for recording its own
23   minutes for all special meetings and all committee meetings;
24   and
25   
26        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Board System is advisory only,
27   is comprised of volunteer citizens who are elected (or
28   appointed in the event of a vacancy) from their respective
29   communities to serve two year terms, and whose committees can
30   take no action or adopt any recommendations on their own; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, the current changes in the manner of conducting
33   committee activities since mid-1998 has had a chilling effect
34   and served to reduce the fact-finding and community dialogue
35   activities of committees which occur between the board's
36   regular meetings, in direct contradiction to the boards'
37   mission "to increase and assure effective citizen participation
38   in the decisions of government" (section 14-101, Revised
39   Charter of the City and County of Honolulu 1973 (1994 edition);
40   and
41   

 
 
 
 
 
 
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 1        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Board System is a grass roots,
 2   community-based, advisory group of volunteer elected (or
 3   appointed) persons without authority to establish policy, grant
 4   permits, appropriate public monies, or otherwise exercise any
 5   legal authority, yet serves as an important community forum and
 6   representative voice for the thirty-two organized neighborhood
 7   boards on Oahu; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Commission and several
10   neighborhood boards including the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St.
11   Louis Heights Neighborhood Board No. 5, Manoa Neighborhood
12   Board No. 7, McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board No. 8, and
13   Kailua Neighborhood Board No. 31 have adopted resolutions
14   concerning their opinion that the strict application of the
15   "Sunshine Law", chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, interferes
16   with the efficient and timely conduct of the committee
17   activities of the Neighborhood Board System, which was
18   established and organized in a manner calculated to uphold and
19   promote openness in government and encourage citizen
20   participation in community decisions, and expressed support for
21   an evaluation of the "Sunshine Law" and the amendment of
22   section 92-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to exempt Neighborhood
23   Board committee activities only (not any other Neighborhood
24   Board or Neighborhood Commission activities) from the "Sunshine
25   Law"; now, therefore,
26   
27        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
28   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
29   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference
30   Bureau is requested to conduct a study concerning Neighborhood
31   Board committee activities and the applicability of the
32   "Sunshine Law", chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and to
33   propose appropriate amendments to the statutes to specifically
34   exempt the neighborhood board committees only from the
35   "Sunshine Law"; provided that all reporting of committee
36   activities and recommendations can appropriately only be done
37   at regular or special meetings of the full board, with proper
38   public notice, an agenda, and the recording of minutes; and
39   
40        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
41   Bureau is requested to submit findings and recommendations to
42   the Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the
43   Regular Session of 2000; and
44   

 
 
 
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 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of
 3   the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Governor, the Mayor and
 4   the Chairperson of the Council of the City and County of
 5   Honolulu, the Attorney General, the Director of the Office of
 6   Information Practices, the Corporation Counsel of the City and
 7   County of Honolulu, and the Neighborhood Commission Executive
 8   Secretary.
 9 
10 
11 
12                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________