MINUTES

ETHICS COMMISSION

CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU

Date and Place:            July 25, 2005

                                    Standard Financial Plaza

                                    Conference Room, Suite 211

Present:                        Robin D. Liu, Chair

                                    Susan S. Heitzman

                                    Raymond H. Fujii

                                    Matthew H. Kobayashi

                                    Wayne T. Hikida

                                    Charles W. Totto, Executive Director and Legal Counsel (EDLC)

                                    Matthew J. Viola, Outside Counsel

Stenographer:               Norm Fisher 

I.          CALL TO ORDER

             The 386^th meeting of the Ethics Commission (Commission or EC) was called to order at 11:30 a.m. by the Chair.

II.                 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE OPEN SESSION OF THE

JUNE 28, 2005 OPEN MEETING

            The minutes of the open meeting of June 28, 2005, were unanimously approved.

III.       OLD BUSINESS

A.        Confirming the date and time of the August 30^th 2005 meeting and setting the date and time for the September 2005 meeting

            The EC confirmed the August 30, 2005 at 11:30 a.m. meeting and set the date and time for the September 27, 2005 at 11:30 a.m. meeting, in the Standard Financial Plaza Conference Room, Suite 211.

IV.       NEW BUSINESS

A.      Administrative news

            The Executive Director and Legal Counsel (EDLC) referred to his memorandum dated July 20, 2005, outlining the total amount of ethics training conducted from fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2005.

B.            Report and recommendation regarding the transfer of regulation of lobbyists from the Council to the 
   Ethics commission

            The EDLC reported that the proposed bill has been submitted to the Council Chair Dela Cruz and Executive Matters Committee Chair Charles Djou.  The EDLC stated that he will meet with the councilmembers to discuss the next steps.

C.        Report regarding the appointment of Cynthia Bond to the Ethics Commission

The EDLC reported that Ms. Bond's resume was provided to the EC at the May 2005 meeting. 

The EDLC reported that Ms. Bond is currently undergoing the hearing phase prior to being confirmed.

D.            Election of new officers

            The EC will make a determination when to elect new officers.

E.               Report regarding the response of vendors and lobbyists offered ethics training

The EDLC reported that staff sent out a short survey to all registered lobbyists and professional engineer, architects and construction organizations asking what kind of ethics training would be useful for vendors to the city and lobbyists, also suggesting some potential types of training.  The EDLC stated that from the low response rate, only two vendors and/or lobbyist having responded, it is evident that the vendors and lobbyist are not interested in training.  

            The EC moved, seconded, and unanimously carried to go to the executive session.

V.        EXECUTIVE SESSION SUMMARY

A.        Approval of the minutes of the executive session of the June 28, 2005
meeting

The minutes of the executive session of June 28, 2005 were unanimously approved.

B.                 Annual performance review of the Executive Director and Legal Counsel

The EDLC reported that beginning in April 2001, the Commission has conducted an annual evaluation of the EDLC.  The EC stated that it will conduct an annual evaluation of the EDLC.

            The EC moved, seconded, and unanimously carried to return to the open session.

VI.       ADJOURNMENT

            The EC moved, seconded, and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting.  The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.