Ethics panel gives guidelines to legislators
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
The Hawai'i State Ethics Commission has given state lawmakers guidance about commenting on public matters or events and conducting constituent service after issues were raised about whether they should get involved in private-sector labor disputes.
Numerous state House and Senate lawmakers were listed on a May flier by Unite Here! Local 5 and described as endorsing a consumer boycott of Turtle Bay Resort. An attorney for the resort has asked lawmakers to publicly withdraw their support and leave the bargaining dispute to resort and union negotiators, but lawmakers believe they were acting appropriately.
In a separate case, state Sen. Brian Kanno, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele), and several other lawmakers intervened last year after Norwegian Cruise Line fired a worker over sexual harassment allegations. The lawmakers had sought to get the man, Leon Rouse, restitution and travel expenses but failed. Several lawmakers later considered resolutions examining the cruise line's sexual harassment policies and whether it should pay the state's hotel room tax.
In a letter Friday to all members of the Legislature, Dan Mollway, the commission's executive director, said lawmakers can comment or take action on public matters or events as long as there is a reasonable basis for their activity and it does not give anyone an "unwarranted advantage."
As for constituent service, Mollway wrote that lawmakers should fairly review both sides of an issue and generally act as a facilitator and avoid any implication of coercion. He also wrote that it could raise concerns when lawmakers go beyond helping a constituent with a matter before the state government.
"A legislator's position carries with it significant power, and certainly the perception of significant power," Mollway wrote. "Such authority cannot be used in an unfair manner to accord one side an unwarranted benefit or advantage."
State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), one of the senators who is supporting the union at Turtle Bay, said she believes there is a difference between the Turtle Bay and Norwegian situations. "The distinction is that Turtle Bay is a freedom-of-speech issue," she said.
The commission is investigating Kanno's actions. He has said he hopes any review will consider the appropriate role of legislators in acting on behalf of their constituents. Kanno, chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, has said he helped Rouse as he would any other worker.
The state Office of Information Practices, meanwhile, ruled last week that Kanno must give The Advertiser a copy of a letter he wrote to the Philippine ambassador in Washington in January 2000 asking him to investigate whether Rouse received due process at his trial in the Philippines for a sex crime.
Other lawmakers have said they knew Rouse as a gay rights activist and some said they were aware of his conviction in the Philippines when they helped him with Norwegian, but Kanno has declined to comment.
The letter to the ambassador shows that Kanno knew of Rouse's conviction. Rouse has said he was set up by authorities. While he was in prison, he was able to obtain similar letters from politicians from several states.
Attorneys for the Senate and House advised lawmakers that such letters are personal and do not have to be disclosed to the public, but the Office of Information Practices has taken the position that correspondence on official letterhead is public. Kanno referred to the legal advice, along with concerns about Rouse's privacy, in at first denying The Advertiser's request for any Rouse-related records, but he released a copy of the letter on Thursday.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
