Executive Matters News Today

A proposal to prohibit city and county employees from accepting gifts related to their official duties was returned to a lower committee of the Honolulu City Council.

A proposal to prohibit City and County of Honolulu employees from accepting gifts related to their official duties is under scrutiny.

The Honolulu Ethics Commission plans today to discuss a long-considered proposal to prohibit city employees from accepting gifts, including cash or alcohol, related to their official duties.

As a means of cracking down on those who would build so-called “monster homes” on Oahu, a 2023 measure meant to prohibit giving false statements to city planners proposes a new set of penalties be given to violators.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi “could not be anymore dissatisfied” with what he called the Honolulu Police Department’s “failing” communication efforts, saying officers don’t get to make up their own rules about what the public needs to know.

The amendment relates to HART’s “temporary reduction of the project,” which sees construction of the project only to a Civic Center station in Kakaako.

A bill meant to prohibit giving false statements to city planners as a means of cracking down on “monster homes” might see more penalties given to violators beyond potential monetary fines and imprisonment.

The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would penalize ‘monster home’ developers who falsify building plans.

Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam says he’s just as frustrated by the situation as the public.

Questions about how the law would be fully enacted have not yet been addressed.