Kuleana is a concept of personal responsibility. Kuleana is knowing your role, playing your part, doing your thing, and being a functioning member of society. Even though County Attorney Al Castillo was a political appointee of the administration, his responsibility
Kuleana is a concept of personal responsibility. Kuleana is knowing your role, playing your part, doing your thing, and being a functioning member of society.
Even though County Attorney Al Castillo was a political appointee of the administration, his responsibility is not to the government but is instead to all of us. We know Castillo is fresh off a long time in private law practice, but he should remember who his clients are.
It’s Castillo’s job to ensure that the law — the County Code, Kaua‘i Charter, Hawai‘i Constitution and U.S. Constitution — is applied appropriately on our small island, and his continued misrepresentation of the law to the Board of Ethics on the matter of 20.02(d) is nothing short of a dereliction of duty.
In an interview this week with Michael Levine, Castillo acknowledged that the charter’s proscription against any officer or employee of the county “appear(ing) in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency” is “crystal clear,” but still tried to defend his office’s disregard of the county’s primary legal document.
Castillo told Levine he weighs adherence to the law against his “desire to allow for public participation” in government, and in an earlier appearance before the Board of Ethics said full application of 20.02(d) could lead to “absurd results.”
We think Castillo’s heart is in the right place. We agree that 20.02(d), if applied overzealously, could lead to absurdity. We agree that public participation in government is a noble aim. We aren’t advocating that Judy Lenthall be chastised for her public service with the Kaua‘i Food Bank or that Mark Hubbard be run out of town for repping the Kaua‘i Planning and Action Alliance.
There is flexibility in enforcing the law, and there’s certainly flexibility in writing the law. But the County Attorney should not misrepresent the law.
When Castillo and his predecessors — most recently Margaret Sueoka, and Michael Belles long before her — talk about reading the charter “in conjunction” with ordinances despite clear language in the Hawai‘i State Constitution anointing the charter as a superior document, they’re twisting the law to fit their goals.
No matter how noble a person’s aims, they can’t change the rules to get what they want. That is not kuleana.
We see a similar debate raging in our nation’s capital, with Attorney General Eric Holder — like Castillo, a political appointee — reportedly mulling over whether to investigate the possibility that torture crimes were committed by the previous administration.
The political fallout from such an investigation would be dramatic, but once Holder was appointed the Obama administration, it became his sworn duty to uphold the law, regardless of what it might mean for the president’s chances of passing health care reform, fixing the economy or getting re-elected.
Any time someone steps outside their role to do what they think is right — seemingly an unassailable move — they are inherently abusing their power. Society has a system of checks and balances to ensure that no single person, no matter how benevolent, accumulates too much control.
Holder and Castillo need to remember what they promised to do and what their job descriptions are. Uphold the law, apply the law, explain the law, even if they don’t agree with what the law says and even if doing makes life harder for their bosses.
Obama, the first Hawai‘i-born president, surely understands the concept of kuleana. We hope Castillo does too.
It’s up to the Board of Ethics to determine if there is a violation, and it’s up to them to determine what, if any, steps should be taken to punish the offenders and prevent future lawbreaking. That is the board’s kuleana.
It’s up to the Charter Review Commission to help fix the poorly worded section of the charter, and it’s up to them to outline what, if any, exemptions should be extended to those who do volunteer work in the public interest. That is the commission’s kuleana.
It’s up to the rest of us to vote for the right proposed amendments at election time, and it’s up to us to hold our public officials accountable when they don’t represent us properly. That is the public’s kuleana.
But none of us can fulfill our kuleanas until we understand the existing law.
Right now, it’s up to Castillo to tell the Board of Ethics what the law says and what it means. That’s it. Leave out the personal desires and fears. As pure as his intentions may be, the rest of the responsibility in keeping our county democracy functional belongs to other players, and he can’t just pick his ends and decide all means are justified.
Mr. Castillo, we’re counting on you to provide to the Board of Ethics at its August meeting a new and improved written opinion.
Tell them the truth. Tell them the law says that any county employee who appears in behalf of a private interest before another county agency is violating the charter. Period.
