I ran into an interesting comparison this weekend regarding differences in accessing county public records, specifically, information drawn from real property tax data. The Office of Information Practices has ruled at least twice that information about property ownership, drawn from real property tax records, is public information. There was an opinion written in 2002 when [...]
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The banner headline in blue and white at the top of today’s Star-Advertiser front page seemed to tell the story: “Governor releases the names of judicial candidates.” I hoped it meant that Gov. Abercrombie had gracefully eaten a bit of that crow he talks about, acknowledged the court order favoring disclosure in the sunshine lawsuit [...]
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A legislative staffer told a reporter that it would be necessary to get permission before recording a briefing held in a state capitol conference room, according to a story yesterday in Civil Beat. Civil Beat commented: “We can only hope that there’s no confusion at the Capitol that a public meeting is just that, and [...]
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If you’re interested in Hawaii’s public records law and sunshine law, the Office of Information Practices currently has links to a number of very useful publications that are being used in their workshops for public officials and attorneys. If you are at all concerned about public access and open government, you need to check these [...]
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Someone recently passed along the results of an informal survey by Hawaii Women Lawyers. The survey question: “If the governor were to publish the short list of candidates for a judicial position would you be less likely to apply?” The question drew 55 responses. Of those responding, 58.2% said the disclosure would not influence them, [...]
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Attorneys representing Governor Abercrombie have asked a state court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Star-Advertiser seeking to force public disclosure of the list of judicial nominees. The governor’s attorneys now argue that there were only a limited number of nominees for the various judicial openings during Linda Lingle’s two terms as governor. They [...]
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I couldn’t believe the news yesterday when Gov. Abercrombie announced a planned public-private development in Kakaako. His announcement contained what was perhaps the first public disclosure the project is planned to include a high-rise condo towering fully 50 percent higher than the state’s tallest existing building. The governor, with his normal relentless optimism, seemed blissfully [...]
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A reader’s comment here yesterday suggested that any sunshine law concerns with the recent trip to Washington by at least five members of the Honolulu City Council had been addressed prior to the trip. With respect to an earlier post about the trip to Washington, D.C and Denver, the Council created a Permitted Interaction Group [...]
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