On May 20th, the Grassroot Institute held an expert panel on the issue of transparency and government secrecy in Hawaii. Moderated by Grassroot President Keli’i Akina, the panel included Rick Daysog of Hawaii News Now, Gina Mangieri of KHON2, Brian Black of Civil Beat Law Center, environmental watchdog Carroll Cox, Andrew Walden of Hawaii Free Press, and Grassroot’s own Joe Kent. In addition, Senator Les Ihara and Senator Donna Mercado Kim–both strong advocates for transparency–offered their own remarks on the issue.
The panelists had some interesting (and outrageous) stories to share about their experience in seeking records from the government, from Gina Mangieri’s account of the $80,000 fee assessment she once got from an agency trying to avoid complying with a request to Carroll Cox and his technique of taking a scanner and cart to government offices.
The video is well worth watching in full if you’re interested in the problems and promise of transparency in our state. In addition, you’ll find links to the beginning of each panelist’s presentation below.
Gina Mangieri (begins at 18:27)
Andrew Walden (begins at 38:47)
Senator Kim (begins at 1:08:03)
