City Council probes cap on gifts

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The City Council is looking into whether it is exempted from a law that places a $200 cap on gifts to city elected officials and employees.

At an Executive Matters Committee meeting yesterday, council members discussed a bill that would let them receive gifts worth any amount, as long as the gifts are disclosed to the public.

However, they may already be able to accept pricier gifts under a current law, which was introduced a year ago in response to criminal activity by convicted felons and former council members Andy Mirikitani and Rene Mansho.

City Ethics Commission Executive Director Chuck Totto testified against the bill. He explained to council members that they already can accept gifts worth more than $200 as long as they recognize that it creates a conflict of interest if the gift-giver has any business before the council. In that case, the council member would have to disclose the conflict, but would still be able to vote on the issue.

However, while disclosure would satisfy the Ethics Commission, Councilman Charles Djou wondered whether council members would be open to criminal prosecution if they accepted gifts above $200. The council plans to ask corporation council and the city prosecutor for their interpretations of the law.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi introduced the bill, concerned that the current city law prevented her from attending charity events where the tickets were more than $200 or forced her to pay the difference.

She also said she did not feel comfortable asking for the value of gifts. "I hate to ask people how much the tickets were," Kobayashi said. "I'm not used to doing that."

Both she and Councilman Rod Tam suggested that it might be insulting to ask how much a gift is worth.

Totto said the value of a ticket to a charity fund-raiser would be the cost of the meal and drinks, not the price of the ticket, and pointed out that the value could be determined by finding out how much of the ticket was not tax-deductible. However, the same test would not apply to gifts such as concert tickets, where the value would be the full price of the ticket.

While the $200 cap on personal gifts applies to the mayor and other city officials, Totto noted that the mayor could still accept expensive gifts on behalf of the city.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.