A contentious push to protect confidential information is expected to win final approval by the City Council today, after months of bickering about the way details of a $300 million sewage repair plan were provided to The Advertiser.

The secrecy proposal would, for the first time, officially bar council members from unilaterally disclosing information from closed-door "executive session" meetings.

But whether that will have any real impact remains to be seen.

Some members predict the measure could simply prompt surreptitious leaks to reporters. Others say the council must be more discreet because disclosing secrets could weaken the city's position on some sensitive issues.

Hawai'i's "Sunshine Law" requires open council meetings but allows private committee sessions to discuss and vote on certain matters, such as lawsuit settlements and investigations of criminal misconduct.

City attorneys believe the release of such information must be approved by a majority of a committee, according to a press release from Councilman Rod Tam, which cites a legal analysis that remains confidential.

The council lacks any specific rule or policy to govern the issue, and confidential information has sometimes been released on an ad-hoc basis. The new rules would bar such disclosures unless at least six of the council's nine members agree to waive confidentiality.

DJOU PROBE SOUGHT

Tam has asked the city's Ethics Commission to determine whether Councilman Charles Djou violated a section of the city Charter when he provided details about the sewer plan to The Advertiser in April, in response to a reporter's inquiry.

Djou said he is confident he will be exonerated and that he strongly supports a second council proposal that would allow the commission to fine elected city officials up to $5,000 for violating ethics laws.

That measure is expected to win tentative approval today but would require several additional votes later. The council earlier deleted penalty provisions from the confidentiality rules that face a final vote today.

The dispute over secrecy erupted after the council's Executive Matters Committee voted behind closed doors to approve the sewer plan and settle an expected federal lawsuit. Djou outlined the deal in an on-the-record interview that provided much of the basis for a front-page article the next day.

Djou said the public had a right to know about the arrangement because it involved so much public money and was being jointly crafted by the city and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"I think it's unhealthy for a democracy when we put limits on when elected officials should or should not talk to the media," Djou said yesterday.

HANNEMANN CRITICAL

Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz joined Djou in voting against the new rules earlier. But Chairwoman Barbara Marshall and most others on the council argue that no single member should have the right to waive confidentiality for the entire group.

The Advertiser has not taken an official position on the matter.

In a letter to Marshall in April, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said disclosing information from executive sessions "is not conducive to collaboration" and "betrays the trust of those members who respect the spirit and purpose" of the Sunshine Law and city Charter.

City attorneys and other officials worked very hard to negotiate the sewer deal, and "having the product of these months of legal wrangling jeopardized by someone seeking a quick headline not only does a disservice to the tremendous efforts of these individuals but could jeopardize our standing and retard our hard-won progress," Hannemann wrote.

Details of the sewer plan were officially released nearly three weeks after the council was first briefed. By then, the deal had been filed in U.S. District Court in conjunction with a lawsuit against the city by the EPA and other agencies.

The deal requires the city to permanently replace a major Waikiki sewer pipe that ruptured last year and sent 48 million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai Canal.

Two other major pressurized pipes must also be replaced under the agreement, and the condition of four others must be assessed. The deal also requires the city to prepare contingency plans by the end of 2008 to contain future spills from such pipes.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.