The Advertiser recently asked its Community Editorial Board, comprised of five residents with diverse backgrounds and ideologies, why public access to information is important. Here are their replies:
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| Rachel Shimamoto
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As taxpayers, like a corporation, we should be privy to the documents that involve our taxes. I like to be able to look into these documents and to be able to inspect and use them. Somehow the public does not use this right to its fullest. People who don't have access to computers are limited. Try going down to City Hall or the state to ask for a file — that's an "excursion in itself."
At times, I question government entities and I get the run-around, so if these records are made more easily available, we might get more results.
Rachel Shimamoto
Kane'ohe
As in many other states, the great debate, and at times the controversy, over the fundamental reasons for the Sunshine Law gets distorted by the purpose of open and honest government and what kind of information is accessible by the public.
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| Alissa L. Alcosiba
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I agree with the principles of the Sunshine Law, but I have concerns about the implementation of it. It seems that the intent is to empower people to be watchdogs and encourage them to question. In reality, the government still holds the upper hand because it reserves the right to withhold information on the grounds of security. In addition to the mere appearance of empowerment, the general apathy of the public, and therefore a lack of questioning, leads to the downfall of the intent of the Sunshine Law.
Although it's true that knowledge is power, it is unfortunate that we have become a culture of sound bites and "Headline News." As a result, information is spun and controlled to the point where points of view are misrepresented.
No doubt the Sunshine Law is a well-intended and necessary policy. It is in fact a right and a privilege, just as voting exists as our most fundamental democratic right and responsibility. And what percentage of the population doesn't exercise that right?
Perhaps the problem lies not so much in the Sunshine Law itself but in our willingness to engage and participate.
Alissa L. Alcosiba
Honolulu
In Hawai'i, we have the constitutional right to control our destiny and to preserve the quality of life that we desire.
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| Blake McElheny
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Active citizens recognize their corresponding obligations and responsibilities that help preserve these rights, but also recognize that the government must help the public develop information that provides measurements on the quality of our society.
But we sometimes forget that government's mandate is to serve and advance the general welfare, health, happiness, safety and aspirations of those it represents and to encourage citizens' full participation in the process of governance.
Informed and active citizens are necessary to perpetuate this contract between the elected government and those it represents. People attempting to be active citizens require access to information to assess the government's performance as well as to measure various standards related to our quality of life.
Informed citizens can then share information with their neighbors and help them get involved in the community's future. In fact, effective citizens can make for skilled partners in working with the government to accomplish objectives that serve the public benefit.
The public's right to know is essential in holding decision-makers and various entities accountable to the people, but also in enhancing the functioning of our communities.
Citizens remain central in the government's balance of power. Meaningful access to government information reinforces the Constitution's notion of separation of powers. Access to information is the private citizen's most basic tool and offers us a central role in maintaining our constitutional separation of powers. Access offers us an alternative to apathy.
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| Jon Scott Hoffman
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Armed with government disclosure, citizens can challenge the actions, initiatives and policies of our officials. Access allows us to offer alternatives. Timely access, not simply quantitative access, allows citizens to influence not through referendum but through agitation prior to government enactment of laws and policies.
Access to government information levels the socioeconomic landscape. As the divide between wealthy and poor in our society widens, the maintenance of equal access to government information becomes all the more essential. Information oftentimes can be closely guarded against those who are not able to afford it. One who possesses a hefty bank account and a generous political donation record should not be able to enjoy greater benefits in our government than someone else less affluent. Access to government information allows all — regardless of income — to review who receives the benefit or brunt of government policy. It allows the folks in 'Ewa the same chance to influence our government as the folks in Kahala.
If the principles of equal access for all of our citizens is maintained in order to jealously guard our right to directly influence our government, I believe completely unrestricted use is not a virtue. Frequently, I and comrades in the military have endured the careless exposure of war plans and operations that risked our lives and success of the nation — simply because someone in the press believed all (not just American citizens) had a "right to know."
Limits should be considered as good in some circumstances. For example, the convention that produced our nation's Constitution (the very same document that gives us our "right to know") was conducted in complete secrecy. The Framers sweated through a hot, humid Philadelphia summer behind shuttered windows so that petty or shallow interests would not taint the final document. Was it wrong for them not to disclose their deliberations? How would that policy be reported in today's press? Did secrecy and lack of public access benefit our nation in this instance? If so, under what conditions should government information be withheld from the public? Clearly, the threshold is debatable. Yet, in some circumstances, we should be thankful that even in the "sunshine" (or access to information) blessed "shadows" (or withheld information) sometimes exist that benefit our republic.
Jon Scott Hoffman
Honolulu
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| Janine Brand
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I believe access to information in connection with our government actions, workings, structure and decisions on our behalf is essential to maintain our representative form of governance. A citizen must be able to know what government is doing in order to hold government accountable.
The ability and opportunity to know places a responsibility on a citizen to inform herself about what government is doing, to evaluate government's actions and the results of those actions, and to provide feedback, whether positive or negative, to the government.
I agree that the government has a responsibility to withhold access to certain information. The devil is in the details: How is the decision made to withhold what information and for how long? Who makes that decision?
