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Board
of Education earns 2007 Lava Tube Award
HILO (March 16, 2007) – For defying the state Office of Information
Practices’ directives to make public the minutes and audio tape of the meeting
at which charter schools director Jim Shon was fired in September, the Hawaii state Board of
Education is the 2007 recipient of the Big Island Press Club’s Lava Tube Award.
Lava Tube awards are
presented annually to recognize the worst examples of openness in the state.
The Board of Education
eventually released minutes of the closed-door meeting, revealing how
individual members voted on Shon’s firing, but not until after the November
general election when several members were seeking re-election. The audio tape
of the meeting is still being withheld by the board despite repeated notices
that its refusal to release the tape is illegal.
Also this year the Press Club
is presenting its Torch of Light award, recognizing the best example of
openness in Hawaii,
to West Hawaii Today for uncovering
and reporting on a previously secret case in the state Judiciary.
The Press Club’s board of directors
has presented these awards annually since 1997.
Since being informed by the
OIP on Oct. 30, 2006, that it must comply with the state’s open meetings law,
the Board of Education has continually thwarted the public’s right to know by
refusing to make the tape available upon request without charging excessive and
illegal fees. The board told Larry Geller, a citizen who requested a copy of
the tape, that it would cost $880 to transcribe the tape of the meeting in
order to redact portions that were not required to be released.
OIP Director Les Kondo
informed the Board in December, and again as recently as March 8, that charging
a fee for transcribing the tape is illegal under Hawaii law.
Board President Karen Knudsen
said the Board is incapable of producing a redacted version of the tape and
must use a private company’s professional services to produce the tape.
In the March 8 letter, the OIP
gave the BOE until March 15, the eve of Freedom of Information Day, to comply
with the law. “Any further delay by BOE in providing Mr. Geller with a copy of
the audio tape cannot be reasonably justified,” OIP Director Kondo said. But the
OIP has no enforcement capabilities, and Mr. Geller, whose remaining option is
to take the BOE to court, has given up seeking a copy of the audio recording.
"The BOE is wrong in its
refusal to release the transcripts of that meeting,” said Press Club President
Peter Sur. “The delayed release of the minutes denied voters a chance to
evaluate whether members seeking re-election deserved another term.
"The Board of Education is not a secret society. Its actions have a direct
effect on close to 200,000 of Hawaii's
youth. Yet it acts as if accountability is a word for teachers and
administrators, but not their governing body,” Sur said.
Also this year, which marks
the Big Island Press Club’s 40th anniversary, the Press Club cites
the Hawaii State Legislature again for a Lava Tube dishonorable mention. The
Legislature has earned the dubious distinction each year since 1997 for
continually failing to abide by the Sunshine Law which it has mandated for
every other public agency in Hawaii.
A second dishonorable mention
is reserved this year for the Hawaii County Council, which was found in
violation of the Sunshine twice in 2006, each time for failing to place an item
on its agenda that was subsequently discussed and voted on in violation of open
public meetings requirements of the law.
TORCH OF LIGHT
The Torch of Light is awarded
to West Hawaii Today for its efforts
in removing the veil of secrecy surrounding a case in the state Judiciary. The Kailua-Kona
newspaper, owned by Stephens Media, petitioned the Hawaii Supreme Court to
force the formerly secret lawsuit involving a prominent Big Island
law firm into the public eye. The unusual nature of the secrecy involved in the
case and the newspaper’s aggressive efforts to shed light on it represents
outstanding service to the public’s right to know and is a worthy recipient of
the Press Club’s 2007 Torch of Light, said Sur.
The Lava Tube and Torch of
Light awards are announced each year on March 16, which is celebrated
nationwide as Freedom of Information Day on the birthday of James Madison, the
foremost champion of openness in government among the nation’s founding
fathers. Madison
was born in 1751.
The
following are the past recipients of the awards:
Torch of Light
2006 Lillian Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services
2005 Former judge and Hawaii County Police Commissioner Paul DeSilva
2004 University of Hawaii at Manoa Journalism 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 Hawaii
and Common Cause
1997 Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter
Lava Tube
2006 Kauai County Council, Honolulu
City and County Council
2005 Third Circuit District Court Judge Matthew Pyun
2004 State Land Board Chairman Peter Young
2003 State Sen. Calvin Kawamoto
2002 University
of Hawaii Board of
Regents
2001 University
of Hawaii Board of
Regents
2000 State Rep. Eric Hamakawa, Hawaii County
Councilman James Arakaki
1999 Hawaii County Council
1998 Hawaii
Gov. Ben Cayetano
1997 Hawaii County Councilman Elroy Osorio |
