EDITORIAL
Details still missing on UH/Dobelle case

A pile of documents related to the firing of UH President Evan Dobelle shows a pattern of spending and other behavior that might irritate even the most even-tempered Board of Regents.

But nothing in the material disclosed so far appears to add up to the "smoking gun" that would justify a firing "for cause," which is what the regents originally did.

The public still lacks, and still deserves, a clear accounting of what the regents knew — or thought they knew — at the time they fired Dobelle and what they learned that caused them to change their minds.

UH says additional records, including details of the meetings where the regents decided to terminate Dobelle, will soon be forthcoming.

Immediately would hardly be soon enough.

One concern is that the meeting minutes will be "redacted" or censored to protect third-party privacy or attorney-client privilege. To a degree, that's understandable, but our fear is that they will be redacted to a point where the basic question remains unanswered.

There really should be no controversy here. Minutes such as these are public records; they are not materials that a board can decide when, how and even if to release.

This issue will not go away and a cloud will linger over the reputation of the University of Hawai'i until the entire story is told.

The sooner that day comes, the better.