Posted 09/01/2011
The Forest Stewardship Advisory Committee has scheduled a meeting for September 2 that, if held, will be in violation of the state’s Sunshine Law.
Notice of the meeting was given to the Lieutenant Governor’s office, but was not sent to all members of the public requesting such notice. (Environment Hawai’i made such a request in 2007.
For years, the Department of Land and Natural Resources maintained that the committee was not subject to the Sunshine Law. In July, however, the Office of Information Practices issued a memorandum opinion to the contrary. “Because this committee was created by state rule and meets the definition of a board, OIP concludes that the committee is subject to the Sunshine Law,” said the opinion.
On August 22, the new Public Land Development Corporation postponed its inaugural meeting for one week as a result of the very same violation.
For more on the OIP opinion, see the entry lower down in this same column.
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