Committee reports out settlement authorizations and special-counsel hires for City and County of Honolulu

The Committee on International Legal Affairs for the City and County of Honolulu reconvened from executive session and recommended reporting out for adoption a set of settlement authorizations and resolutions to retain special counsel, city staff said. The committee cited Hawaii Revised Statutes sections 92‑4 and 92‑5(a)(4) as the basis for consulting in executive session.

The committee recommended reporting out for adoption: authorization to settle claims in Joseph Knepper and Joshua Knepper et al. v. Michael Berger et al.; a resolution to retain Fukunaga, Matsu, Yoshi, Ching & Kan Herrera LLP as special counsel to represent the City and County of Honolulu in the case captioned Joshua Bridal Durbach v. City and County of Honolulu; a resolution to retain Kobayashi Sugita Goto LLP as special counsel to represent defendant Daryl Kahn in related legal actions; authorization to settle claims brought by Michelle Koyanagi; authorization to settle Dietrich Insurance Company Limited v. City and County of Honolulu; and authorization to settle several grievances and related civil cases involving United Public Workers (UPW) Hawaii and the Department of Environmental Services Refuse Division. All items were discussed in executive session and then reported out for adoption by the committee.

Chair Waters, chair of the Committee on International Legal Affairs, praised city employees and UPW leadership and said the settlement package will resolve numerous cases "where our city employees were entitled to pay pursuant to their contract." Waters added, "I wanna apologize to them and thank them again for their patience for waiting, in some cases, over 6 years to be paid." He also said much of the settlement consists of "fines, fees and costs and sanctions," and that he would "be voting with reservations." The transcript shows the committee chair's reservation was noted (recorded as a "W/R").

The transcript does not include a recorded roll-call vote on the committee floor in the public record provided; the chair asked for any "W/Rs or noes" and the clerk noted Chair Waters' W/R. The committee's action was described as "reported out for adoption," which forwards the measures for consideration by the council.

Because the matters were discussed in executive session under HRS 92‑5(a)(4), the committee did not present detailed settlement amounts or funding sources during the public reconvened portion. The committee record indicates the settlement package addresses multiple older claims and grievances, including long-pending pay disputes involving city employees represented by UPW Hawaii.

The committee adjourned after reporting the items out for adoption; the reported-out resolutions and settlement authorizations will appear on the council docket for further consideration and any formal vote by the full council.