Office of Information Practices

U Memo 16-2
November 13, 2015
Proposals for a Land License
to Salvage Koa Wood

Requester sought access to various records from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) concerning a request for proposals for a land license, which was not executed as DHHL planned a re-solicitation of proposals.

Pursuant to section 92F-13(3), HRS, OIP determined that DHHL properly denied disclosure of records that were maintained prior to the execution of the land license because the disclosure would cause “frustration of a legitimate government function” by providing Requester with a manifestly unfair advantage and causing substantial harm to the competitive position of other potential applicants in the planned re-solicitation for the land license.  Under the “frustration” exception, OIP also concluded that DHHL properly withheld intra-agency memoranda that are predecisional and deliberative in nature and fell within the deliberative process privilege.  OIP concluded, however, that other records should be disclosed after redacting the identifying information of applicants submitting a proposal.  An outline of the interview process that was read almost verbatim to all applicants should also be disclosed.