County Council given dubious achievement award

[Rob Tucker]

MEDIA RELEASE
**** For release: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 ****

Hawaii County Council Earns Dishonorable "Lava Tube" For Running Roughshod Over Sunshine Law

Hawaii County Council Members, having run roughshod over the Sunshine Law in the last year, earned the Big Island PressClub's 13th annual Lava Tube award in recognition of the year's most notable offenses against the public's "right to know."

The County Council disregarded the Sunshine Law when reorganizing last June, sparking a lawsuit between the Council and West Hawaii Today that produced a restraining order against the Council and an order for the county to pay $23,000 in attorney's fees to the newspaper. In the restraining order, Judge Ronald Ibarra barred any further Council action until council members reversed the reorganization and gave proper notice of the matter.

"It is clear that a quorum of councilors discussed resolutions regarding selection of board officers pending before the board, prior to and outside of, the June 16, 2009, public meeting, in violation of (the state Sunshine Law)," Ibarra said. Throughout the course of the lawsuit, council members spoke publicly of the inconvenience of the state's Open Meetings Law. Kona Councilman Kelly Greenwell openly stated that he does not believe in the Sunshine Law.

Big Island Press Club President Stephanie Salazar said the Sunshine Law exists not for convenience but to ensure the public's participation in government. Salazar pointed to the introduction to the Open Meetings Law, which states, "Governmental agencies exist to aid the people in the formation and conduct of public policy. Opening up the governmental processes to public scrutiny and participation is the only viable and reasonable method of protecting the public's interest."

"The Big Island Press Club cannot help but award the Lava Tube to the Hawaii County Council, which has shown everyone its lack of regard for the public's interest and public scrutiny," Salazar said.

The Lava Tube award is announced each year on March 16, Freedom of Information Day, honoring the birthday of James Madison. Born in 1751, Madison was author of the U.S. constitution and the foremost advocate for openness.

County Civil Defense and Other AgenciesWin "Torch Of Light" For Public Notification Systems

The Press Club also honors the best efforts to promote openness in Hawaii with the Torch of Light award, which is also presented annually since 1997.

This year several county departments, led by Civil Defense, receive the Torch of Light Award.

In 2008, state Civil Defense, having obtained a grant for emergency notification services, approached Hawaii County and Kauai County to be test cases. All Hawaii county departments were given the option of signing up for voice, email, and text notification. To date Civil Defense, Public Works, Water Supply, Fire, and Human Resources Safety Division have signed on. In addition, through the efforts of Public Works Public Information Officer Noelani Whittington, Public Works, Civil Defense and Fire set up a hotline at (808) 334-9559to provide
public notice about bridge and road closures or construction, wildfires, or other pertinent information.

The Hawaii Police Department also made its own strides in public notification, signing up for a separate system to disseminate its press releases. For that endeavor, the Press Club awards a Torch of Light Honorable Mention to the police department.

A Lava Tube Dishonorable Mention award is also being made to the state Office of Information Practices this year for its low work output. The agency has rendered only five formal opinions in the last two years, about one fifth of its normal work product.

Previous Lava Tube Dishonorees

2009 Noelani Whittington, Department of Public Works

2008 Mayor Harry Kim and Hawaii County Council

2007 State Board of Education

2006 Honolulu, Kauia, and Big Island County Councils

2005 District JudgeMatthew S.K. Pyun

2004 State Land Board Chairman Peter Young

2003 State Sen. Cal Kawamoto

2002 University of Hawaii Boardof Regents

2001 University of Hawaii Board of Regents

2000 State Rep. Eric Hamakawa and Hawaii County

Councilman James Arakaki

1999 Hawaii County Council

1998 Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano

1997 Hawaii County Councilman Elroy Osorio

Previous Torch of Light Honorees

2009 Legislature, Gov. Linda Lingle

2008 Les Kondo, Office fo Information Practices

2007 West Hawaii Today

2006 Lillian Koller, State Dept. of Human Services

2005 Retired Circuit Judge Paul de Silva

2004 UH ManoaJournalism Professor Beverly Keever

2003 U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink(posthumously)

2002 Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim

2001 Hawaii County Clerk Al Konishi

2000 Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano

1999 Jerry Rothstein and Judith Graham

1998 Environment Hawaiiand Common Cause

1997 Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter

For more information: Tiffany Edwards Hunt, Big Island Press Club vice
president, (808) 938-8592, newswoman@mac.com

[mdd7000]

This article should be broken in two pieces - one for the bad and one for the good. (After you do that, delete my post)

[Rob Tucker]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. An awkwardly written press release from the Big Island Press Club.

I might get around to it in a little while..... dinner awaits.

[Tiffany Edwards]

This is an ***embargoed*** press release, meaning it shouldn't have been published until tomorrow. Your scoop is with total disregard for the embargo expectation.

Also, as for the judgment that this is an awkwardly written release, this the template used annually in issuing an announcement for the Press Club's Lava Tube/Torch Of Light.

[TomK]

I can't believe I've read this. What an unbelievable breach of trust and ethics. And the embargo notice is plainly at the top of the post. What were you thinking, Rob?

[PaulW]

Where does it say it's an embargoed press release?

If you're going to send embargoed press releases to non-journalists you should make it more clear, e.g with
"Not to be released or printed or posted before...."

(Assuming Rob is a non-journalist.)

It's hardly breaking news.

[Bob Orts]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tiffany Edwards

This is an ***embargoed*** press release, meaning it shouldn't have been published until tomorrow. Your scoop is with total disregard for the embargo expectation.
Also, as for the judgment that this is an awkwardly written release, this the template used annually in issuing an announcement for the Press Club's Lava Tube/Torch Of Light.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by TomK

I can't believe I've read this. What an unbelievable breach of trust and ethics. And the embargo notice is plainly at the top of the post. What were you thinking, Rob?

---

Chill, out you two. The Hawaii Press Club of all organizations should know that information exchange is paramount in free society. The Press fights for the rights to be free from censorship and shackles. News organizations everyday release information under the guise of freedom of the press and sometimes that information does more harm than good. But that is the nature of the business; you get information, you try to scope the competition. So you got scoped by a non-journalist, live with it. What a bunch of whining babies! If this issue and your responses are indications of Hawaii’s news organizations, the Iranian Times comes out looking better than you.

I wonder if this is one of those, "how does it feel when the shoe is on the other foot?" momments.

[Rob Tucker]

Well, I have to admit I had and still have no idea how the word embargo applies to a press release.

All I know is that I received a press release and always assumed that a "release" meant it was being put forth for public consumption.

Assume the best and ask questions.

Punaweb moderator

[Rob Tucker]

Aloha Tiffany,

I had no idea what embargo meant and was apparently too tired to notice the date.

Sorry. There was no intent on my part to scoop anything.... I'm not particularly into scoops.

So I learned something.

My apologies.

Rob

[csgray]

If the Hawaii Press Club doesn't want non journalists to ignore the conventions of journalism like embargo dates they should not send press releases to non journalists. It is that simple. Every trade has specialized language, like the use of embargo in a press release date, but to assume that someone who is not in that profession understands the use of the term, and then castigate them for breaking the convention is out of line. Rob provides a community service by providing a forum for Puna/Hawaii related posts. He is not, and has never claimed to be a journalist or news outlet. The mistake here was on the part of the Hawaii Press Club. Don't chew someone out for not following and understanding journalistic conventions when they are not a journalist and aren't operating a news outlet.

Carol