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As the Hawaii Economic and Community Recovery & Resiliency Navigator, Common Cause Hawaii respectfully asks you to keep transparency and accountability as tenets in planning for Hawaii’s revival. Meetings of your special task force should be conducted according to Sunshine Law, and all documents and records should be subject to Public Records Law.

Voting in coronavirus times is perilous and likely to make in-person voting at the polls difficult. Expanding access to voting and the voter base is something everyone can get behind. There is no better way to express one’s opinion and to exercise a vital right. Please Click on the link to read the entire OpEd.

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 15, 2020 City Council Public Hearing.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me regarding transparency and democracy during the COVID-19 crisis. Please know that many of your concerns were carefully considered prior to the decision to temporarily suspend certain requirements of the State’s Sunshine Law, part 1 of chapter 92, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS). While I agree that transparency is of utmost importance, the ability of government to function at all during a pandemic of the unprecedented sort we currently face is also critical and all possible flexibility in this regard must be provided to government entities.

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 comments regarding the transparency of the April 2, 2020 General Business Meeting of the Board of Education (Board) and specifically Agenda Item III, Board Action on temporary rules of operation to conduct virtual board meetings.

In times of emergency the Constitution is not suspended, in fact, it is needed even more for transparency and accountability. ...The public needs to be able to participate in government in order for democracy to continue to function. Government transparency and support of the public’s right to know are more, not less, critical during emergency situations.