Honolulu City Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam has introduced a resolution proposing himself as the council's next chair, with Esther Kiaaina as vice chair and Scott Nishimoto as floor leader — a bid now shadowed by two anonymous complaints alleging an early-October gathering at a Waipahu Zippy's broke the state's open meetings law.
The resolution, set for the next full council meeting, proposes that Dos Santos-Tam be elected chair, with Kiaaina as vice chair and Nishimoto as floor leader, according to Hawaii News Now. The plan traces back to a meeting earlier in October at Zippy's in Waipahu, where Dos Santos-Tam sat down with Kiaaina, Matt Weyer, Radiant Cordero and Augie Tulba. Two anonymous complaints filed with the state Office of Information Practices argue that the five members present were one too many under the Sunshine Law's limits on private gatherings of council members.
What the Zippy's Meeting Allegedly Involved
Councilmember Andria Tupola said Dos Santos-Tam confirmed to her that the group gathered and took a vote at the meeting, though the station's report does not detail what that vote produced. Tupola also said she was shocked that some council members were unaware the meeting had even happened. She characterized Dos Santos-Tam as moving too quickly and said he may have broken the law, per her own account relayed to the station.
Dos Santos-Tam declined to discuss specifics, saying he could not comment on the meeting because it remains under investigation. The Civil Beat newsletter Sunshine Blog reported that the five council members — Kiaaina, Dos Santos-Tam, Weyer, Cordero and Tulba — got together at Zippy's specifically to plan who would become the next council chair. Civil Beat also reported that the Office of Information Practices had already opened a file and assigned a staff attorney to review the case, though no finding or final determination has been issued.
Why the Chair's Seat Matters
The stakes around the job go beyond a title. Civil Beat notes that the council chair decides which bills get heard and which don't, along with who chairs the council's most influential committees — a degree of control that helps explain why five members allegedly huddled over the race before it formally began. Tupola, who was not invited to the Zippy's gathering, is still pursuing the chair position herself and urged her colleagues to follow the law and hold open conversations instead.
Dos Santos-Tam has pushed back on the idea that anything about the process was improper, saying council matters should not be politicized. He said any other member can propose amendments to his resolution and that the body will have an open discussion, adding that the outcome has not already been decided.
The Push for Urgency
Dos Santos-Tam has framed speed as necessary rather than suspicious. He said there is urgency to install new leadership with current Chair Tommy Waters leaving office in January, and that getting leadership settled promptly would let the council start the coming year well. Tupola countered that there was no need to rush, since two council seats still need to be filled by election.
Hawaii News Now political analyst Colin Moore said the Zippy's meeting was not an auspicious opening move for anyone angling to lead the council, noting, “It's not a great start if you're trying to build trust.” Moore also pointed to the broader prize at stake, saying the council chair position comes with power and visibility that could help whoever holds it run for mayor in two years. He said Democrats on the council do not want Tupola, a Republican, to become mayor, and that mayoral control over appointments could be used to train and employ Republicans for future office — an outcome he said Democrats are eager to avoid.
A Pattern of Sunshine Law Disputes
This is not the first time Honolulu's council has faced scrutiny under the state's open meetings statute. The state Office of Information Practices found the council violated the Sunshine Law in 2017 by adding major items to meeting agendas at the last minute, according to Civil Beat's earlier reporting. A judge separately ruled in March that the council violated the law by adding an item about policing at Mauna Kea onto an agenda without adequate notice, a decision Civil Beat described as echoing the 2017 finding.
State guidance from the Office of Information Practices lays out tight boundaries for private talks among board members: fewer than a quorum may discuss board leadership privately, and a board cannot sidestep that limit through serial one-on-one conversations, per the agency's informal opinions. A separate exception allows less than a quorum to meet privately, without limitation or later reporting, specifically to discuss the selection of board officers. Whether the five-member Zippy's meeting falls on one side of that line or the other is the exact question now sitting with the Office of Information Practices' staff attorney, and no determination has been made public.
