Alien v. Predator
By ddepledge
Leslie Kondo, the executive director of the state Ethics Commission, sent a stern letter on Thursday warning a member of a mortgage foreclosure task force to stop lobbying for pay on task-force related issues.
Kondo has held that task force members are state employees subject to the ethics code and are not allowed to lobby for pay while they are serving. He said his interpretation is intended to prevent “influence peddling.”
Marvin Dang, an attorney who serves on the mortgage foreclosure task force and has represented the Hawaii Financial Services Association, believes Kondo’s interpretation of the law is overly broad.
From Kondo’s letter:
ln the event that you and the other members of the Task Force truly are unclear about the Commìssion’s position, l am writing to make that position clear: Members of the Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force cannot, for pay or other compensation, lobby the legislature on behalf of a non-governmental organization on bills relating to the matters that the members worked on as part of the Task Force.
More specifically, that means, among other things, Task Force members cannot be paid to testify on behalf of a non-governmental organization on a bill implementing the Task Force’s recommendations. To be clear, the Commission’s position is not dependent on whether you are testifying in support of the bill, testifying in opposition to the bill or seeking an amendment to the bill. You simply cannot testify on behalf of a non-governmental entity on the bill if you are paid to do so.
The kicker:
If you continue acting in a manner that is inconsistent with the State Ethics Commission’s guidance to you, the Commission may be forced to consider more formal action against you.
Dang mentioned the letter when he was testifying on Thursday before the state House Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would make clear that task force members are not state employees for purposes of the ethics code. A similar bill is also moving in the Senate.
Formal action by the Ethics Commission?
“Bring it on, I suppose,” Dang said.
Political Radar
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:15 am
Marvin, Leslie Kondo has been strict, maybe overly so, in the past, but in this, I agree with him. What you are doing is harmful to the community and the system. You should get off the Task Force if you want to continue to lobby for pay on task force issues. You have had an illustrious career, but that is going down the drain with this position of yours that you should be able to lobby for pay on Task Force issues, and continue to serve on the Task Force. You are doing yourself harm, not only the community. I urge you to reconsider.
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:33 am
To say they cannot even attempt to lobby? That’s simply unAmerican. Oh, wait, we live in Hawai`i. How could a Grease forget? So, they end up getting paid, wh’ happah’? That would be due to Legislative decision, right? Tha’s an ethics club Kondo’s running, right? Not the sheriff’s office or that also-a-task-force 5-0 unit across the street from Iolani Palace, heading makai.
State employee Cannot even try to lobby a very Legislative body for pay? That might violate free speech rights alone. Who’s in violation of ethics, now?
February 3rd, 2012 at 5:32 am
I have great respect for Les Kondo, but I think an interpretation which considers task force members to be “state employees” for the purpose of the ethics laws is wrong. Task Forces are deliberately composed of “stakeholders.” That is, of people who have a specific, identifiable stake (or “interest”) in the subject of the task force. The task force aims to bring together these identified stakeholders in the hope of forging agreement, if possible, by hearing from those varied interests and working out compromises. Or, at least, identifying different options for consideration by the actual policymakers.
Engaging in the task force process does not strip an active advocate of one of the interests from having the right to continue to advocate for that interest outside of the task force. That conclusion is, frankly, ridiculous. What unfair advantage would a task force member derive from serving on the task force?
February 3rd, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I thank Leslie Kondo and the Ethics Commission for their strong stance in protecting the integrity of the lawmaking process.
I cannot understand what is unclear about the conflict of interest issue the Task Force commissioner needs explaining.
Then again, only the Task Force commissioner could mix black (“Bring it on!”) and white (“i suppose”) in one sentence.
Keep on keeping on, Mr. Kondo; you have the public’s backing.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Neocon, rhino republicans should learn about ethics.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:19 pm
The issue simply comes down to fairness. Mr. Kondo is saying that “true” state employees can lobby AND serve on the task force (i.e. Consumer Protector Bruce Kim & DFI Commissioner Iris Catalani), yet privately-employed people cannot. At the same time, he is saying that all members of the task force are considered “state employees”, which triggers the lobbying prohibition. I can’t understand how his argument makes any sense.
February 4th, 2012 at 10:22 am
I suppose if corporations are people according to to SCOTUS, then I suppose task force members are state employees. Bizarre on both counts.
All Kondo’s interpretation does is favor the big boys. HEI can have someone serve on a task force and then have someone else testify on behalf of HEI. Kondo should take the next (il)logical step and say that an organization serving on a taskforce cannot testify before the legislature.