LIHU‘E — The sometimes personal argument between Kaua‘i County Council Chair Bill “Kaipo” Asing and Councilmember Tim Bynum that nearly boiled over earlier this summer flared up briefly Wednesday as the two debated the legislators’ travel policy — or lack
LIHU‘E — The sometimes personal argument between Kaua‘i County Council Chair Bill “Kaipo” Asing and Councilmember Tim Bynum that nearly boiled over earlier this summer flared up briefly Wednesday as the two debated the legislators’ travel policy — or lack thereof.
The disagreement began when Asing, the council’s chief procurement officer with the power to OK other members’ travel plans, denied Bynum’s request to be reimbursed for a round-trip flight to Honolulu and a rental car in July — around the same time of Bynum’s and Lani Kawahara’s crusade to address issues of transparency and challenge Asing’s power as chair.
Fellow council members and County Attorney Al Castillo were able to cool things off and keep the discussion civil, and what started as an argument over $150 ended with an agreement to hammer out a written travel policy.
That accord was largely thanks to Castillo, who before Asing could begin his slideshow presentation, warned the chair — offering an “abundance of caution” — to keep the discussion centered on policy and not on his powers as chair or Bynum’s liabilities as a subordinate member, lest the council need to go into executive session.
In his presentation, Asing said Bynum flew to O‘ahu to meet with Special Counsel David Minkin after the attorney was unable to brief the council during its July 8 meeting about a pending lawsuits involving the county.
The July 8 agenda included two executive sessions: one for cases involving 1000 Friends of Kaua‘i and a pair of Eastside development projects, and another involving the Sheehans’ permits along the Hanalei River.
Earlier, in the open session portion of the meeting, the council had approved an additional $175,000 for special counsel to work on the two cases.
On July 14, Bynum flew to Honolulu to meet with Minkin, but when he returned and asked Asing to sign off on the travel reimbursement, the chair said he would not.
“I didn’t feel that it should have been done in the manner it was done,” Asing said Wednesday, noting that a telephone conference would be a more efficient and cost-effective way of getting a briefing from an attorney, and adding that Bynum’s “one-man executive session … violated the spirit of the Sunshine Law.”
Bynum said a settlement was imminent, that “time was of the essence” and he did not feel he had done anything inappropriate. He said after the meeting that the cost of the flight and the car rental was in the range of $150.
Bynum said he agreed with some of Asing’s rationale, but said the chair’s policy on not flying to Honolulu to get briefings from special counsel was not previously laid out in detail or put in writing.
Asing later said that forming a written travel policy for councilmembers was an “excellent idea” and said council staff would draft such a policy.
