THE SENATE                           S.R. NO.              95
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                    SENATE  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
36        its findings and to propose recommendations to the
37        neighborhood board for appropriate action.  No
38        committee may speak for the board;
39   

 
Page 2                                                     
                                  S.R. NO.              95
                                                        
                                                        


 1   and
 2   
 3        WHEREAS, by letter dated May 5, 1998 from Neighborhood
 4   Commission Executive Secretary Benjamin Kama, Jr. to all
 5   Neighborhood Board chairs, accompanied by a letter dated
 6   December 4, 1997 from Deputy Attorney General Charleen M. Aina
 7   and a letter dated April 3, 1998 from Deputy Corporation
 8   Counsel Jane H. Howell, both addressing the applicability of
 9   chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the "Sunshine Law", to
10   Neighborhood Board committee activities, Mr. Kama advised the
11   Neighborhood Boards that committee meetings are subject to the
12   Sunshine Law and must be given public notice seven days in
13   advance, with an agenda, and the minutes must be recorded; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, in his May 5, 1998 letter, Mr. Kama also advised
16   that as the "Neighborhood Commission Office is structured and
17   budgeted for its staff to attend one meeting per board per
18   month", each board would be responsible for recording its own
19   minutes for all special meetings and all committee meetings;
20   and
21   
22        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Board System is advisory only,
23   is comprised of volunteer citizens who are elected (or
24   appointed in the event of a vacancy) from their respective
25   communities to serve two year terms, and whose committees can
26   take no action or adopt any recommendations on their own; and
27   
28        WHEREAS, the current changes in the manner of conducting
29   committee activities since mid-1998 has had a chilling effect
30   and served to reduce the fact-finding and community dialogue
31   activities of committees which occur between the board's
32   regular meetings, in direct contradiction to the boards'
33   mission "to increase and assure effective citizen participation
34   in the decisions of government" (section 14-101, Revised
35   Charter of the City and County of Honolulu 1973 (1994 edition);
36   and
37   
38        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Board System is a grass roots,
39   community-based, advisory group of volunteer elected (or
40   appointed) persons without authority to establish policy, grant
41   permits, appropriate public monies, or otherwise exercise any
42   legal authority, yet serves as an important community forum and
43   representative voice for the thirty-two organized neighborhood
44   boards on Oahu; and
45   

 
 
Page 3                                                     
                                  S.R. NO.              95
                                                        
                                                        


 1        WHEREAS, the Neighborhood Commission and several
 2   neighborhood boards including the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St.
 3   Louis Heights Neighborhood Board No. 5, Manoa Neighborhood
 4   Board No. 7, McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board No. 8, and
 5   Kailua Neighborhood Board No. 31 have adopted resolutions
 6   concerning their opinion that the strict application of the
 7   "Sunshine Law", chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, interferes
 8   with the efficient and timely conduct of the committee
 9   activities of the Neighborhood Board System, which was
10   established and organized in a manner calculated to uphold and
11   promote openness in government and encourage citizen
12   participation in community decisions, and expressed support for
13   an evaluation of the "Sunshine Law" and the amendment of
14   section 92-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to exempt Neighborhood
15   Board committee activities only (not any other Neighborhood
16   Board or Neighborhood Commission activities) from the "Sunshine
17   Law"; now, therefore,
18   
19        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
20   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, that the
21   Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study
22   concerning Neighborhood Board committee activities and the
23   applicability of the "Sunshine Law", chapter 92, Hawaii Revised
24   Statutes, and to propose appropriate amendments to the statutes
25   to specifically exempt the neighborhood board committees only
26   from the "Sunshine Law"; provided that all reporting of
27   committee activities and recommendations can appropriately only
28   be done at regular or special meetings of the full board, with
29   proper public notice, an agenda, and the recording of minutes;
30   and
31   
32        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
33   Bureau is requested to submit findings and recommendations to
34   the Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the
35   Regular Session of 2000; and
36   
37        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
38   Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of the
39   Legislative Reference Bureau, the Governor, the Mayor and the
40   Chairperson of the Council of the City and County of Honolulu,
41   the Attorney General, the Director of the Office of Information
42   Practices, the Corporation Counsel of the City and County of
43   Honolulu, and the Neighborhood Commission Executive Secretary.
44 
45 
46 
47                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________

 
Page 4                                                     
                                  S.R. NO.              95
                                                        
                                                        


 1