I am a Kauai resident and a voter. I, like so many Kauai residents, was sorely disappointed in you for vetoing Bill 2491. As a retired attorney who spent his entire career as a staff attorney, Regional Attorney and Regional Director enforcing the law for an agency of the Federal Government, I was particularly appalled by the process by which this veto was accomplished.
During my career, I have prepared for my superiors and had prepared by my subordinates many legal position papers. The function of such papers is to provide a balanced assessment, pointing out the pros and cons on the legal matter in question, and leaving it to the decision-maker to make the final judgment. The 66-page “confidential” legal position paper you released to the public clearly was intended to advance every conceivable legal argument against Bill 2491, without providing the counter arguments.
Either you requested that it be prepared in that manner or your legal staff did you a grave disservice. In either case, the people of Kauai have been denied a fair assessment of the legal merits of the Bill.
Joe Norelli
Kauai Hawaii
This email was sent to the Mayor on November 2 and is printed in its entirety and published here with permission:
GaryHooser's Blog 
Is revealing a confidential legal document, or plan, a criminal offense?
The Mayor had the right to release the document however the question seems to be was he advised by the County Attorney that to do so was in the best interest of the County. The actions of the County Attorney as to whether or not they offered the appropriate legal advice to the Mayor is the question I have.
Kudos to you, Gary. Kevin Robbins, formerly Six Seven Electric.
He definitely didn’t act in the best interest of the County by releasing the opinion if you consider that the bill may still become law. He did it selfishly for his political career without regard to what was best for the other 60,000 Kauai residents. And I can’t imagine a county attorney could advise that releasing the opinion was proper for anything but political gain. It’s one thing to veto, it quite another to sabotage.
Can we say ‘political suicide’?
Or does he really think he can survive this?