It’s been awhile since the Honolulu Ethics Commission fined a sitting City Council member for not playing by the rules.

The last time came in 2012 when the commission smacked then-City Councilman Nestor Garcia with a $6,500 penalty for nondisclosure issues.

It was the largest fine in the commission’s history.

But on Friday, the commission announced it levied a $500 fine against Honolulu City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi for not filing a conflict of interest disclosure when introducing and voting on a bill in 2012 that related to property tax exemptions for credit unions.

At the time Kobayashi was the director of six credit union services organizations that were subsidiaries of Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union. Her proposed bill aimed to decrease the real property tax exemption for credit unions.

Kobayashi has since resigned her positions with the subsidiaries.

You can read the Ethics Commission’s opinion here.

Photo: Ann Kobayashi via Flickr courtesy of madmarv00.

—Nick Grube