Editorials
Wednesday, May 15, 1996

Neighborhood boards
need legal protection

CITIZENS willing to devote their time and energy to public service without compensation should not be subjected to costs associated with lawsuits stemming from their service, but that has been the reality for two members of the Manoa Neighborhood Board. The City Council should act promptly to assure neighborhood board members of legal protection.

In Manoa, the neighborhood board became involved in landlord Ukumaruku Corp.'s order for the operators of Manoa Art Gallery to vacate the Manoa Finance Building. The board approved a resolution supporting the gallery's continued existence in Manoa and urging an equitable solution to the dispute.

Board member John McLaren called an official at Bank of Hawaii, which had begun negotiations to lease the space, asking for a representative at a community meeting. Bankoh then backed away from the leasing talks.

Ukumaruku sued the board and its members for interfering with the company's business affairs. The city agreed to pay $20,000 for the board's actions. McLaren ended up agreeing to pay a $17,000 settlement. Another board member, Fred Rohlfing III, agreed to pay $2,000. Members of neighborhood boards throughout Oahu are afraid that they could be similarly held liable.

Mayor Harris has proposed a resolution authorizing the city to pay the costs of suits against neighborhood board members. Most of the legal costs of the Manoa suit will be paid by the city without need for the resolution, but its adoption would formalize the existing practice of the city providing legal protection.

As a matter of prudence, neighborhood board members should seek advice from a city attorney before injecting themselves into private disputes. Ironically, Ronald Mun was the city's corporation counsel while sitting on the Manoa board that called for solution of the lease dispute, showing that the availability of legal advice is not always assurance against litigation.

Neighborhood boards, comprised of elected officials closest to their constituencies, have become important components of city government, although they are limited to an advisory role. Board members need assurance that the city will protect them from having their civic service turned against them.


Other editorials in brief:

Politics at UH

A former dean of the University of Hawaii Law School who ruffled some feathers by charging that political pressure was applied in attempts to win admission of friends and relatives of state legislators to the school has found another position. Jeremy T. Harrison, who resigned last year after serving as dean since 1985, has been appointed dean of the Detroit College of Law. The institution is affiliated with Michigan State University. The interim dean at the UH Law School, Lawrence C. Foster, has been nominated for the permanent post. But the university continues to struggle under a reputation for political interference in its affairs.


Economic progress

THERE has been much hand-wringing lately about the supposed decline in real wages of American workers, particularly members of the Baby Boom generation. It seems exaggerated, if not flat-out wrong. Bad-mouthing the American economy for imaginary problems may win votes for demagogic political candidates, but it can only divert attention from the nation's real problems.



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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor



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