FORMER DIRECTOR’S CALENDAR RELEASED UNDER OPEN RECORDS LAW, BUT REQUEST FOR CURRENT DIRECTOR’S CALENDAR “DENIED IN ITS ENTIRETY”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Aug. 13, 2011) — On July 23, 2011, The Post & Email mailed a request to Loretta Fuddy, Director of the Hawaii Department of Health, under the state’s open records, or UIPA, law.
Our request was received by the Hawaii Department of Health on July 28, 2011 and responded to on August 3, 2011 as having been “denied in its entirety.” The reason for the denial given was “Director Fuddy’s personal calendar is not a government record within the scope of HRS §92F-3, See OIP Opinion 04-17.” The calendar was sought because a member of the public had been told that Fuddy was “on leave” and had “left the island” when calling to inquire as to whether or not Fuddy intended to comply with a subpoena issued by the U.S. District Court in Honolulu in relation to the lawsuit Taitz v. Astrue. The Post & Email was told by an Oahu resident acquainted with certain employees in the Health Department that Fuddy had been gone for a few days but had been in her office during the weeks of July 18 and July 25, 2011.
On August 8, 2011, Taitz and two document experts arrived at the Health Department but were denied access to Obama’s original birth certificate and instead given a letter stating that the documents requested would not be produced for inspection, citing “privacy” laws.
On January 18, 2010, Editor Emeritus and Founder of The Post & Email, John Charlton, requested the public schedule of then-Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino, under the UIPA law and was granted it in its entirety. The former director had been Dr. Chiyome Fukino, whose several public statements about Barack Hussein Obama’s constitutional eligibility to serve as president and original birth certificate have never been corroborated by any other Hawaii official, including Assistant Attorney General Jill T. Nagamine. Charlton stated that the calendar was “printed out for The Post & Email on Jan. 20, 2010, at 9:39 AM, from an electronic file.” This writer retrieved the letter from the post office box which contained copies of Dr. Chiyome Fukino’s work schedule for the month of July 2009 as well as a “Notice to Requester” explaining the reason that the request was granted. Mr. Charlton reported on his receipt of the information and displayed graphics of the calendar pages on February 19, 2010.
In response to the denial just received, The Post & Email searched through the Index of OIP Formal Opinions rendered in regard to the UIPA law since its passage in 1988 and located “Opinion 04-17” which referenced “Calendars and Telephone Message Slips of City Officials” on page 13. The index does not contain links to the actual opinions listed. It appears that opinions are numbered with a two-digit year format; therefore, “04” would indicate an opinion issued in 2004.
Even if Opinion 04-17 stated that “Calendars and Telephone Message Slips of City Officials” were not considered to be “government records” or public records which should be disclosed, Loretta Fuddy is a state employee, not a “city official.” Further, an opinion issued in 2004 precluding the release of a government record, if applicable, would have applied to Charlton’s UIPA request of 2010, yet he was provided the information he requested.
John Charlton’s request of January 18, 2010 was directed to Health Department Public Information Officer Janice Okubo and reads, in part:
Dear Miss Okubo,
In accord with HRS 338 92F-11, which requires all records to be disclosed which are not prohibited,
I seek a copy of the following:
The calendars, appointment books, schedules, logs, diaries and other reports documenting meetings, appointments, telephone calls, trips, visits and other activities of Dr. Chiyome Fukino for the month of July, 2009, as categorized in the State of Hawaii Accounting & General Services, Archives Division, Administrative Records, General Records Schedule No. 1, 2002.
I make this request in accord with 92F-2, to better understand whether Dr. Fukino kept the public trust in July, 2009, by acting in a manner consistent with the responsibilities of her office, since such records as I seek are no where (sic) prohibited by the UIPA act as those not to be disclosed.
The pages from Fukino’s public calendar received by The Post & Email in early February 2010 indicate various meetings, interviews and workshops attended by Fukino during the month of July 2009. Charlton had sought to know whether or not Fukino ever spoke with then-Attorney General Mark Bennett regarding the release of her public statement on July 27, 2009, which contended that Barack Hussein Obama “was born in Hawai’i and is a natural-born American citizen.” No meeting or telephone conversation with Bennett nor anyone else in the attorney general’s office appears on the calendar, although Janice Okubo had claimed that the Health Department had consulted with Bennett’s office before the statement was released.
Our recent request to Ms. Fuddy asked for her public calendar for July 11, 2011 to August 8, 2011, the day on which the U.S. District Court subpoena commanded her to make available the original document allegedly held on file with the Department of Health for Barack Hussein Obama.
Obama had already chosen to release an image on April 27, 2011 which he claimed was his original birth certificate allegedly proving that he was born in Honolulu, HI on August 4, 1961. Numerous document, internet, image and typesetting professionals have stated that the image is a forgery.
However, other reports in travel literature; official Kenyan Parliament Minutes; from the Kenyan ambassador to the United States; from African newspapers prior to and following the 2008 presidential election; a report from an Indonesian newspaper; Dr. Jerome Corsi; an article attributed to the Associated Press; and Obama’s wife Michelle have stated that Kenya is Obama’s “home country” and place of birth.
Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states:
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
Whether or not Obama was born in the United States has been one element relating to his eligibility to serve as president. Other factors are his possible adoption by an Indonesian citizen and a father who was never a U.S. citizen.
If John Charlton’s request for Dr. Fukino’s schedule was granted, why was Sharon Rondeau’s request for Director Fuddy’s calendar denied?
The Post & Email will be appealing the decision to the Office of Information Practices on the grounds that Fuddy is not a “city employee” and therefore her calendar should be considered releasable as a government record, just as Fukino’s was. As stated in our letter to Fuddy, Chapter 92F of the UIPA law states that unless expressly prohibited by law, disclosure of government records is required. Fuddy did not claim that her work schedule was protected by a “privacy interest.”