Ethics
It seems like, every week, we learn about new instances of public corruption, in elected officials, in appointed officials and in public employees. A culture of corruption has been allowed to grow up. Gardens unattended grow weeds.
In adopting Article XIV to Hawai‘i’s constitution, the people of Hawai‘i spoke loud and clear: “public officers and employees must exhibit the highest standards of ethical conduct” and “these standards come from the personal integrity of each individual in government.” The Hawaiian word for this is “pono.” We all understand when something isn’t “pono.”
There may have been a time in the past when corruption was tolerated, or slyly winked at. It is time for a change. Together, we can bring an end to the old way of “doing business,” which benefits only the few, at the expense of the many.