The state has been giving a lot of money and lip service to providing a more robust online presence. A number of state websites have been given a new look and feel.

But are they any more useful to citizen activists looking to participate in the political process and hold government accountable? What’s important here is adequate notice of public meetings, and easy access to meeting agendas and minutes. Public access to materials distributed to board members along with their agendas is also important in understanding the issues being discussed.

Minutes are important. The state’s sunshine law requires they contain certain information:

The minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:

(1) The date, time and place of the meeting;

(2) The members of the board recorded as either present or absent;

(3) The substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided; and a record, by individual member, of any votes taken; and

(4) Any other information that any member of the board requests be included or reflected in the minutes.

The Office of Information Practices has provided additional information regarding the sunshine law’s requirements for minutes, including these points:

• Minutes should reflect who spoke and the gist of what was said. Instead of simply stating that “Discussion was had,” minutes should summarize or paraphrase the board members’ discussion, such as, “Member A askedwhether . . .” and “MemberB stated that . . .”

• Minutes should reflect a participant’s testimony that was presented, but it is sufficient for the minutes to reflect it in a minimal form, such as, “Kimo Doe testified against the proposal to . . .”

• A board member’s right to request that specific information be included in the minutes only applies while the meeting is still taking place. Thus, during a meeting, a board member can make a request such as, “Please
let the minutes reflect that I own property adjacent to the parcel discussed in agenda item 5,” or “I would like these written remarks included in the minutes verbatim,” and the board must honor the request. The board member cannot wait until after the meeting and then insist that the minutes be amended to include additional information.

State departments, agencies, and boards and commissions vary widely in how well they support public involvement. Many do quite well, including the Department of Education and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

DLNR leads the way in providing agendas and supporting materials (staff submittals) that provide background on most agenda items. Minutes are also available, although they are hot completely up to date. The Department of Education is also right up there in providing agendas, background materials, and minutes.

I’ve done quick reviews back in 2011 (“Many state agencies fail to post meeting agendas or minutes online“) and again in 2012 (“Have state agencies gotten any better at posting meeting minutes online?“).

Today I returned to those agencies that did poorly in the earlier round of reviews to see whether there’s been any improvement. By and large, the answer is “No.”

Board of Agriculture

Starting at the Department of Agriculture website, select the tab for “Meetings & Reports.” From there, you can select “Board of Agriculture Meetings.” It looks like we’re in business. But not so fast.

The site refers to the State Calendar, where finding the Board of Agriculture isn’t simple. I searched for the past year and found only a single agenda, for a meeting in November 2013. Was that the only board meeting during the year? I doubt it, but since there’s no list of meeting dates for the year provided on the site, it’s hard to tell.

And minutes don’t exist. The best is a set of “board actions” taken at meetings, but it does not provide the information that minutes are required by law to contain, and it hasn’t been updated since 2012.

I’m forced to give the Board of Ag another failing grade.

Grade: F

Employees Retirement System.

Like the Dept of Ag, ERS links to the state calendar for information on “Dates, Meetings & Events.” This is of very limited utility. Agendas, if and when they are prepared, are posted only six days before a scheduled meeting, even if the meeting has been on the agency’s calendar for a year. It gives the public little in the way of planning time, although it meets the letter of the law.

Minutes are available in a drop-down menu under the “Resources” tab. Minutes are current as of November 2013.

Grade: B

High Technology Development Corporation

Although HTDC has a list of currently scheduled events, it provides no information about HTDC board meetings, nor does it include any minutes.

Grade: F

Board of Health

There is no information about the Board of Health on the Health Department’s website. Who are the members of the Board of Health? You wouldn’t know if you have to rely ob the DOH website. Does the board ever meet? Again. we’re offered no clues by the DOH. How about all those other boards and commissions administered by the Board of Health? Want to track their meetings and actions? You won’t find any of that information here.

Grade: F

Deferred Compensation Plan Board of Trustees

The plan’s website offers information on the savings plan administered by the board, and deferred pay plans for employees of UH and the Dept. of Education. There is also a link “for information about the Board of Trustees that oversees the plan.” I clicked it. It leads to a simply typed list of the board’s seven members, with emails and phone numbers. Nothing more. No info on meetings, agendas, or minutes.

Grade: F

State Fire Council

The council’s website provides a basic statement about its legal purpose and membership (“comprised of the fire chiefs of the counties”). But that’s it. If you want to know about council meetings, or what sorts of action they have taken, you won’t find it here. And a link that is supposed to go to a notice of a State Fire Council public hearing instead just returns to the Department of Labor home page.

Grade: F

Hawaii State Ethics Commission

The commission’s website has a prominent link to “Commission Meetings,” but refers to the State Calendar for information on upcoming meetings. It does not provide a list of scheduled meeting dates.

Current and prior agendas are provided. However, no background materials for agenda items are posted for the public.

However, minutes of the commission’s public meetings are nowhere to be found. Given the amount of other information about the ethics laws and their application available online, the lack of meeting minutes is surprising.

Grade: B-

Campaign Spending Commission

The commission’s website has a link for “Meetings & Minutes” in a drop-down menu in the tab labeled “About.”

The meeting & minutes page includes a list of meeting dates for the coming year, agendas as they are posted, and minutes of recent meetings as well as an archive going back to 2008.

The site also provides brief professional biographies of each member of the commission, along with a list of commission staff. Well laid out and easy to use.

Grade: A