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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 12:54 p.m., Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Sunshine law training required

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Vision team members and other members of the city’s boards and commissions will have to attend mandatory sunshine law training, the City Council decided today.

The council had unanimously passed the law in September, only to have it vetoed by Mayor Jeremy Harris last week. However, in a 6-3 vote, the council members overturned the veto.

Several council members pointed out that the administration had not objected to the bill when it passed through three council meetings and two committee meetings.

Eric Crispin, director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, said the mayor supported the intent of the bill, but argued it would have dire consequences on the vision teams. Crispin pointed out that with more than 1,000 vision team participants and at least a dozen members on each of the 33 neighborhood boards, the cost to oversee compliance would be substantial.

Les Kondo, director of the Office of Information Practices, which oversees the state’s open meetings law, said the office would commit to training boards and commissions at least once or twice a year, or more if they had the resources.

Under the bill, anyone attending at least three vision team meetings would be required to undergo training under the state's sunshine law, which calls for open meetings and public access to information.