Report Title:

Boating and Ocean Recreation; Ethics Commission

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, a recent lawsuit against employees of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation in the Department of Land and Natural Resources has raised questions about the propriety of the individual actions of state workers with respect to the operation of small boat harbors; and

WHEREAS, in the recent case of Fielder v. Gehring et al., brought in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (Civil No. 99-00350 SOM/BMK), a jury has recently found that the plaintiff offered to pay the required fees for a mooring permit at Keehi small boat harbor, but was not issued such a permit; and

WHEREAS, in particular, the jury found that the actions of various employees of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, Department of Land and Natural Resources, in refusing to issue the requested permit, entitled the plaintiff to damages, including punitive damages; and

WHEREAS, this type of lawsuit against employees of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation is an additional state expense that could have been avoided through a more thorough examination of the job descriptions of those employees and through better training; and

WHEREAS, questions have also been raised about the ethical propriety of the conduct of these employees in denying the issuance of a mooring permit under the boating and ocean recreation laws of the State; and

WHEREAS, the State Ethics Commission has the responsibility to initiate, receive, and consider charges concerning alleged violations of the state ethics code; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for the Ethics Commission to conduct an independent investigation as to the incidents that culminated in the lawsuit against the Division's employees, including a review of whether the employees acted outside of the scope of their job descriptions, and to bring appropriate charges if a violation of ethical provisions is determined to have occurred; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that the State Ethics Commission is requested to conduct an investigation into the actions of employees of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation in the case of Fielder v. Gehring et al., U.S. Dist. Ct. (HI Civil No. 99-00350 SOM/BMK), including whether employees of that Division violated the state ethics code in allegedly acting outside of the scope of their job descriptions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Ethics Commission is requested to take appropriate action, as necessary, against those employees of the Division that are found to have violated the state ethics code; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, with the assistance of the Department of Human Resources Development, is requested to annually review all job descriptions within that Division to ensure their compliance with all applicable laws; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission, the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Administrator of the Division of

Boating and Ocean Recreation, and the Director of Human Resources Development.