[ OUR OPINION ]
FORBIDDING any city employee from receiving gifts worth more than $200 from any one source may block what the public has come to view as a stream of influence that has tainted government officials. The limit is sensitive toward the local custom of giving, but works to restore confidence in the political system, eroded recently by problems involving several members of the Honolulu City Council. Gift limit is a step
in the right direction
THE ISSUE The City Council limits to $200 the value of gifts city employees can receive.
The measure cleared by the Council also provides the city Ethics Commission more leeway in disclosing information to law enforcement, should the commission determine that ethical breaches may constitute legal violations as well. Further, it extends from two years to four years the period for recouping city funds or voiding contracts that may have resulted from ethics violations.
The bill is an improvement over present law, which has no limits on gift values, requiring only that they be reported. As a result, some city employees and office-holders were given country club memberships, tickets to balls and galas and free travel.
The annual limit should not interfere with an employee's personal life, with gifts from relatives or through wills or on special occasions -- such as birthdays or weddings -- exempted. Spouses and dependent children also are covered by the limit and although that may seem onerous, it prevents a giver from bypassing the rule while allowing the recipient to benefit.
If the bill had been law at the time, it would not have prevented the recent troubles encountered by Andy Mirikitani, who resigned his Council seat after his conviction on felony charges last December. However, it would have allowed the city to recover more money from former Councilwoman Rene Mansho, who pleaded guilty to theft charges that extend back to 1989.
The measure eliminates reporting requirements. Chuck Totto, executive director of the city Ethics Commission, says he sees no need for the disclosure with the lower limit; if someone intended to break the law, he or she certainly would not reveal accepting a gift or a bribe anyway. He says simply banning gifts above the limit, as do about 30 other states, leaves no wiggle room for recipients.
Totto points out that the majority of city employees and elected officials conduct themselves honorably. Those who lack moral compasses won't be controlled by ethics codes in any event, and no number of laws will deter them from shady dealings.
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HOK GET'S days at sea may have come to an end, along with her period of celebrity status. The 2-year-old terrier, aka Forgea, famously survived 24 days alone on an abandoned tanker before being returned to civilization. She still faces 120 days of quarantine on Kauai before regaining her freedom. Dog’s days of fame
coming to an end
THE ISSUE A terrier who survived three weeks adrift has received a warm welcome on Kauai.
Worldwide attention focused on the rescue efforts after a fire disabled the tanker, killing one crewman and forcing its abandonment by 11 others to a passing cruise liner. For whatever reason, the pooch was left behind.
The Hawaiian Humane Society spent $48,000 on a two-day rescue effort soon afterward, but was not able to find the tanker. It later was spotted from a fishing boat, and the Coast Guard launched a tugboat in pursuit, ostensibly to prevent the tanker's 60,000 gallons of petroleum products from spilling. Everybody else was more interested in saving the puppy, and the Coast Guard dutifully dropped pizza, granola bars and oranges onto the tanker by plane.
Why all the fuss? People adore animals, and aerial television footage of the terrier scampering across the boat's deck was enough to tug at anybody's heartstrings. Contributions to the humane society came pouring in from around the world.
The same phenomenon occurred to an even greater degree 14 years ago, when three gray whales -- given the names Bone, Bonnett and Crossbeak -- fought for their lives for three weeks while trapped in the frozen Beaufort Sea off Point Barrow, Alaska, as television viewers watched them gasping for air. A U.S. and Soviet cooperative rescue effort led to survival of two of the whales.
However, last year's plight of a cat named Felix caused barely a blip. The cat was trapped in a container for three weeks of travel by ship and rail, apparently surviving by licking condensation from the container's walls. Felix was noticed upon the opening of the container in Israel. The feline, named after his trip's origin of Felixstowe, England, was sent back to undergo a six-month quarantine. It's not that the media didn't care about Felix's ordeal. They were just unaware until it was over.
Hok Get has had her three weeks of fame. Jay Leno's attention span probably is not long enough to postpone her appearance on national television for 120 days, the quarantine requirement she faces on Kauai. Honolulu resident Michael Kuo, a friend of Chung Chen-po, Hok Get's master aboard the tanker, has agreed to adopt her. Then it's back to a dog's life.
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