The Hawaii Ethics Commission has posted four anonymous 'Informal Advisory Opinions' which clearly refer to questions raised over the practice of giving UH Regents free athletic tickets. Here is the intro to each of the three and links to the full text:
State Ethics Commission November 2013
An organization (“Complainant”) filed a charge (“Charge”) with the Hawaii State Ethics Commission (“Commission”) against a state official who served as a member of a board governing a state agency (“Agency”). The Charge alleged that the official received complimentary tickets from the Agency to events under the jurisdiction of the Agency in violation of the State Ethics Code, Chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes (“HRS”).
The Commission concluded that the official did not violate the State Ethics Code’s gifts law, gifts reporting law, or conflicts of interests law. However, for the reasons discussed below, the Commission believed that in several instances the official’s use of complimentary tickets appeared to have been an “unwarranted” privilege or benefit prohibited by the State Ethics Code’s fair treatment law.
The Commission recognized that several issues raised by the Charge had been addressed, generally, in the Commission’s recent review of certain policies of the Agency pertaining to the distribution of complimentary tickets. The Commission resolved the Charge by issuing an Informal Advisory Opinion to the official to explain the application of the State Ethics Code specifically with respect to his receipt and use of complimentary tickets.....
Links:
ILind: UH regents likely violated state ethics code in use of free athletic tickets
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