Kauai County Council - model of transparency?

Years ago when Robert Kennedy Jr. visited Kauai he told me, "Democracy not only gives people the right to ask a question, but more importantly get an answer." I guess his visit was not long enough to really get to know Kauai and how things are done around here. Illustrative of how things are done here is the the article "County protects legal opinion" (TGI 20/01/2008, A1) which can be summarized as follows;

1. A citizen asks if a county council action was in error as a matter of law.
2. The council member Fafuro assures the citizen he will get the citizen an answer and asks for a opinion from the county attorney.
3. The County attorney issues an opinion.
4. The Council refuses to release the opinion to the public.
5. A citizen asks the County Board of Ethics for an opinion.
6. The County Ethics Board refuses to give an opinion.
7. The County Council continues it's questionable action while council member Yukimura hopes people understand the council actions are taken with the "highest intentions."

Perhaps the council should spend less time protecting a secret "legal opinion" and try protecting a citizen's right to get an answer.

--- 30 ---