Following my telephone request to have WasteStream’s meeting notices and agendas mailed to me, I received Sunday evening a call from a WasteStream member, who informed me that I mistakenly assume that WasteStream is subject to the Hawaiian Sunshine law, as they are just a citizen group, having nothing to do with the county, per se.
In an article published in the Kohala Mountain News, published October 23, 2010, WasteStream said the following:
“WasteStream is a grassroots group … and working with the County Waste Management Division to increase the number of recycling options at the current transfer station.”
“Our organization is not a county decision-making body. We are an advisory group to the county and are involved because we care deeply about these issues.”
“In 2007, the county asked WasteStream Kohala to undertake an extensive search for a new transfer station site in the community.”
Now let us look at the law. Ref. Part I of Chapter 92,
Hawaii Revised Statuteshttp://www.state.hi.us/oip/6aug08%20Sunshine%20GUIDE%20complete.pdf
“Unfortunately, there is no list that specifically identifies the
boards that are subject to the Sunshine Law. As a general
statement, all state and county boards, commissions, authorities,
task forces and committees that have supervision, control,
jurisdiction or advisory power over a specific matter and
are created by the State Constitution, statute, county charter,
rule, executive order or some similar official act are subject to
the Sunshine Law. A committee or other subgroup of a board
that is subject to the Sunshine Law is also considered to be a
“board” for purposes of the Sunshine Law and must comply
with the statute’s requirements.” Emphasis added.
By their own admission, shown above, WasteStream is “an advisory group to the county”, and as such has an “advisory power over a specific matter”, selecting the site for a new transfer station. They further admitted, that "the county asked WasteStream Kohala to undertake an extensive search for a new transfer station site in the community". Moreover, since this affects a great number of residents, their meeting notices and agendas must be made available to the public, and they are most definitely subject the requirements of this statute.
"The notice of the meeting must include an agenda, which lists all of the items to be considered at the forthcoming meeting, the date, time and place of the meeting, and if an executive meeting is anticipated, the notice must state the purpose of the executive meeting."
Further,
"The agenda must list all of the business to be considered by the board at the meeting. It must be sufficiently detailed so as to provide the public with adequate notice of the matters that the board will consider so that the public can choose whether to participate. For anticipated executive meetings, as noted above, the agenda must be as descriptive as possible without compromising the purpose of closing the meeting to the public and must identify the statutory basis that allows the board to convene an executive meeting regarding the particular matter."
“The statute requires the board to maintain a list of names and
addresses of those persons who have requested notification of
meetings and to mail a copy of the notice to those persons at
the time that the notice is filed.”
“If a board files its notice less than six calendar days before the
meeting, the meeting is cancelled as a matter of law and no
meeting can be held. The Lieutenant Governor or the appropriate
county clerk is to notify the board chair or the director
of the department within which the board is established of the
late filing, and the board must post a notice canceling the meeting
at the meeting site.”
Considering the foregoing, please continue to call WasteStream, at 889-5025, and request meeting notices with agenda by mail.
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