1. Transparency, clarity and the public trust are foremost in advancing the
fundamentals of our government at the state and local levels.
The following shared correspondence from the Hawaii State Ethics Commission foretells
sweeping changes are forthcoming at the state level.
The Hawaii State Ethics Commission has no jurisdiction over County Boards of Ethics for
Maui County, Honolulu City & County, Kauai County and Hawaii County.
At the County level the people have the duty, obligation and responsibility to make certain that
their public officials, members of boards and commissions, and employees adhere to the
highest standards of ethical conduct. Current County Codes require clarification, modification
and amendment. The standards contained in Gifts from Outside Sources published by the U.S.
Office of Government Ethics is recommended as a guideline. Please note contained therein is a
link to the Executive Order that establishes an Oath of Office for political appointees.
Government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Take charge of your destiny. Now is your time!
Clif Hasegawa
<clifhasegawa@gmail.com>
Gifts of Aloha
Hawaii State Ethics Commission
<Ethics@hawaiiethics.org>
Mon, Sep 18, 2017 at 11:41 AM
To: "clifhasegawa@gmail.com" <clifhasegawa@gmail.com>
Cc: Hawaii State Ethics Commission <Ethics@hawaiiethics.org>
Dear Mr. Hasegawa,
Thank you for your e-mail. I agree with you that there should be greater
clarity and consistency when it comes to Hawaii’s gifts laws. To that end,
the Commission is in the process of drafting proposed administrative rules
on a variety of topics, including gifts, to be discussed over the next few
months. At some point, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, proposed
rules will be noticed for public comment and hearing. If you subscribe to
our Twitter feed, you will receive announcements of Commission
meetings (with links to agendas, where you can see what topics will be
discussed), and you are welcome to provide comments to our proposed
rules.

2. The Hawaii State Ethics Commission oversees state officials and
employees, but has no authority over the various county ethics
commissions. As such, we respectfully suggest you address those
commissions directly.
Thank you very much,
Dan Gluck
Executive Director
From: Clif Hasegawa [mailto:clifhasegawa@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday,
September 17, 2017 8:55 AMTo: Hawaii State Ethics Commission
<Ethics@hawaiiethics.org>Cc: “Chad Blair” <cblair@civilbeat.org>; “Todd
Simmons Civil Beat” <todd@civilbeat.com>; “Nick Grube Civil Beat”
<ngrube@civilbeat.com>Subject: Gifts of Aloha
THE HAWAII STATE ETHICS COMMISSION
The Honorable Reynaldo D. Graulty, Chairman
The Honorable David O’Neal, Vice Chairman
The Honorable Susan N. DeGuzman
The Honorable Ruth D. Tschumy
The Honorable Melinda Wood
Dear Chairman Graulty, Vice Chairman O'Neal, Commissioner
DeGuzman, Commissioner Tschumy, Commissioner Wood,
Please find attached my SlideShare presentation Hawaii Ethics Code –
Gifts of Aloha – An Exposé for your review and action.
Your attention is directed to Footnote 1, United States Office of
Government Ethics. Gifts from Outside Sources. April 11, 2017,
accessed September 17, 2017.
<https://www.oge.gov/Web/OGE.nsf/Resources/Gifts+from=Outside+Sources>

3. By comparison, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission publication, Gifts
And The State Ethics Code is vague, permissive, permitting wide
discretion as opposed to being regulatory in nature.
We recommend that the Commission revised this publication to reflect,
clearly and with detail, as expressed and as set forth by the United States
Office of Government Ethics, the standards of ethical conduct expected
from Hawaii state legislators, state officials, state employees, and state
board members.
In turn, we request that the parameters of acceptable and prohibited
conduct, as expressed and as set forth by the United States Office of
Government Ethics and the Hawaii Ethics Commission's revised Gifts And
State Ethics Code publication be adopted by the Boards of Ethics for Maui
County, Honolulu City & County, Kauai County and Hawaii County.
Establishing a bright-line for ethical conduct is required and mandated by
the Hawaii State Constitution. The discretion conveyed to the Hawaii
Ethics Commission by the Constitution is that the parameters of ethical
conduct be fair, applied equally and be justly enforced.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you.
Aloha
Respectfully,
Clifton M. Hasegawa
President and CEO Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC