News Clips

Over the past few months Hawaii leaders have established curfews, called out the National Guard, set up checkpoints, ordered businesses to close, required the wearing of face masks, deployed drones to clear beaches and waived open records and meetings laws. Also, advocates of open government and transparency were alarmed in mid-March when the governor suspended the state laws requiring agencies to meet in public and make government records public as part of the administration’s emergency COVID-19 response. In response to the order, Common Cause Hawaii sent a letter to the governor, signed by more than 40 different groups, asking that government meetings be required to remain open by remote access through audio and video means.

The governor’s emergency order says, however, that the boards shall reasonably allow for public participation consistent with social distancing practices, allowing written testimony to be submitted and livestreaming of meetings, as Common Cause Hawaii points out. “Common Cause has always contended that the public should be able to comment and provide testimony in real time because our testimonies can change based on what is discussed at the meeting because we cannot anticipate in advance what’s discussed,” said Common Cause Hawaii Executive Director Sandy Ma.

This controversial meeting was held on Thursday without oral testimony. In light of the economic crisis facing the city and the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many furloughed or laid off, several elected officials and citizens objected to the nearly across-the-board 3% pay raises, with many of the listed officials already making well over $100,000.

Not providing the public with the option to testify via remote access at the April 23, 2020 hearing is illogical, especially when your Committee’s April 23, 2020 Agenda specifically provides that “[s]ome committee members may be participating in the meeting by interactive conference technology from remote locations.” More than illogical, the Committee is endangering the health and safety of the public by having the public attend in-person your Committee hearing. The people should not have to decide between their personal welfare and civic engagement. Your Committee (and the entire Council) should value transparency, ethics, and public participation and the health, safety, and welfare of your constituents and our community. As your Committee permits its members to participate remotely in the April 23, 2020 meeting, the Committee obviously values its own members’ health and safety; it needs to value the public’s to a similar extent.

A bill that would allow coronavirus-impacted businesses to hold off paying their property taxes passed the Honolulu City Council’s first hurdle last week. The bill was one of several measures adopted by Council members at its meeting Wednesday aimed at helping businesses and people negatively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Common Cause Hawaii and several individuals raised objections that the Council does not allow for public testimony to be given remotely on these bills.

Common Cause Hawaii is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. Transparency in government is key to a healthy and strong democracy. Common Cause Hawaii provides the below comments regarding the April 16, 2020 Salary Commission Agenda.