The Board of Ethics last week ruled Leeward Planning Commissioner Mark Van Pernis violated the county ethics code requiring officials treat everyone respectfully, even as he faces one final County Council vote Wednesday to oust him as a commissioner.
Van Pernis faced two ethics complaints after Mayor Mitch Roth asked the County Council to remove him from the planning commission. After months of delays, the County Council Planning Committee on Aug. 3 voted 5-3 to recommend his removal, and the council is scheduled to vote on that recommendation at Wednesday’s 11 a.m. meeting.
The ethics board voted unanimously that Van Pernis violated the “fair treatment” section of the county ethics code requiring elected and appointed officials to treat the public in a “courteous, fair and impartial manner.”
The board previously found Van Pernis did not violate the ethics code in another case. The first petition, filed by Leeward Planning Commission Chairman Michael Vitousek, questioned whether Van Pernis violated the county ethics code when he didn’t disclose he lived in a neighboring subdivision to the 725-acre Palamanui development before he sponsored amendments that could reroute Palamanui traffic away from his subdivision.
The latest ruling was on a petition filed by Kathryn Hickey, an applicant before the planning commission who unsuccessfully sought an after-the-fact special permit for a wedding business on agricultural land.
Fair treatment allegations centered around comments Van Pernis made during the planning commission hearings such as “the commission is here to represent West Hawaii, not the Hickeys and we need to represent all of West Hawaii and not the Hickeys,” and “They are only farming in coffee 8 acres. They may be farming elsewhere, but I don’t know that they can’t make a living farming properly.”
Hickey said Van Pernis’ comment about “farming properly,” implying they wouldn’t need the wedding business if they farmed better, especially rankled.
The Board of Ethics didn’t levy a fine or other penalty against Van Pernis, with Vice Chairman Larry Heintz saying it’s being addressed in another forum.
“I think Mr. Van Pernis has a gruff manner,” Heintz said. “I think people do have a bit of a thick skin but there’s a limit.”
“There’s a notion of civility,” Ethics Board Chairman David Wiseman, a former judge, said. “Two words I used to use. … It’s very simple. Be nice.”
Van Pernis, contacted Monday for a comment, said he was schooled in how he was to behave after complaints were raised last year. He said he’s improved his behavior since then.
“I challenge anybody to look at the transcripts and point out where I did anything,” Van Pernis said. “They didn’t like my style, but I changed that.”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.