HILO — The Hawaii County Board of Ethics yesterday added a second count of ethics code violation against Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole.

By a 4-1 vote, the board found that Naeole violated the county ethics code when she threw a pen across the room at a June 2, 2008 meeting of the Hawaii County Council. The action violated the portion of the code requiring county officers to give "fair, courteous and impartial treatment."
The board last month found Naeole in violation of the same section when she made thumbs-down gestures behind the backs of testifiers during a June 16 meeting about council reorganization. The actions could intimidate the public and keep people from testifying, board members said.
"We're not here to police immaturity or childish behavior or a pattern of behavior," Chairman John Dill said. "Obviously the County Council has some issues to work out."
Marilyn Nicholson was the dissenting vote on both charges.
"This is definitely an example of immature behavior, but I don't see it as an ethical violation," Nicholson said.
Naeole said she threw her pen in exasperation during a budget discussion when she learned that West Hawaii was getting a $55 million civic center while people in her district were homeless and "mothers were sleeping in cars."
"When I threw the pen —my bad — it wasn't when any testifiers was on," Naeole told the Ethics Board.
The petitions were filed by Puna residents Joyce A. Folena and Gregory Smith. They said they waited so long to file this complaint because they felt intimidated and it took them this long to get their courage up. The law allows complaints to be filed up to six years after the action.
"This is not proper behavior — much less for a council member, but for an adult human being," Smith said.
There are no penalties for violating the county ethics code. The board will send written findings to County Council Chairman J Yoshimoto.
Yoshimoto has said he has never received such a letter during his tenure, but he would "take appropriate action" once the letters arrive.