December 14th, the County Ethics Board met, mostly by ZOOM.  The only person actually in the Council Room where the Ethics Board meets on the 2nd Wed. of each month was Sylvia Wan, the Corporation Council, the Board’s clerk, a testifier, Jaerick Medeiros-Garcia and myself, Margaret Drake, as the LWVHC observer.

The board members present on the ZOOM screen were Chair Larry Heintz and members Rabbi Rachel Short and Denise Nakanishi, which just made up a quorum.  The referendum on Nov. 8th approved the addition of two more board members.

The testifier, Mr. Medeiros-Garcia, the president of the Fishing Association complained about the non-response of Planning Department about unfair treatment about a blocked public access to the ocean in Pepeekeo.. A zoning agreement in 2005 between the landowner, the Planning Department and the Fishing Association for access, had been ignored.  Mr. Medeiros-Garcia and Ms. Claudia Rohr who testified via ZOOM, allege that two planning department employees laughed at their testimony. This issue will be referred to the Human Resources of the Department of Planning.

The choosing of the new chair and vice chair of the Ethics Board was tabled until the January 11, 2023, meeting.