A state attorney general investigation and an ethics complaint are following this week’s revelations that Mayor Billy Kenoi regularly used a county-issued credit card for personal purchases ranging from a $1,200 surfboard to visits to Honolulu hostess bars.
County Prosecutor Mitch Roth said he and state Attorney General Douglas Chin had discussed the issue Tuesday, and decided that it would be best for Chin to handle the investigation, to make it more independent of the county.
“With all the questions and inquiries and accusations, it just should be as transparent as possible,” Roth said Friday. “An independent review would be better than having another county agency look into it.”
Chin could not be reached on Friday, a state holiday for government workers.
The county’s legislative auditor is also looking into the county’s use of purchasing cards, known as pCards. Auditor Bonnie Nims had said last month the audit is ongoing and expected to wrap up in the next few months. She couldn’t be reached Friday for an update.
And, a Kapaau resident who has previously filed election complaints in a County Council race said he plans to file an ethics complaint next week. Lanric Hyland is a supporter of Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, who has frequently butted heads with Kenoi.
A very subdued Kenoi, reached Friday afternoon, said he’s cut up his pCard and plans to cooperate with any investigation. He said no one has contacted him from either agency.
“We respect the process and will cooperate fully with any inquiry,” Kenoi said.
West Hawaii Today first broke the story Sunday that Kenoi, an attorney and second-term mayor, charged $892 in December 2013 at the Honolulu hostess bar Club Evergreen. Kenoi didn’t reimburse the county until the following March.
The newspaper had obtained the December pCard statement from an alternate source after trying unsuccessfully to get the documents from the county Finance Department, even though they are public records under state law.
On Tuesday, the county released the charge card statements and receipts for Kenoi’s reimbursements over the years.
In addition to the Club Evergreen charge, Kenoi had, in September 2009, charged $400 at another Honolulu hostess bar, Camelot Restaurant and Lounge. That one he made good on the next day, so the charge didn’t go through the county, according to the credit card statement.
Between January 2009 and March 2015, Kenoi racked up a total of $122,314.86 on his county-issued card. In those years, he paid back $22,292.81 for personal charges on the card, usually within a month or so.
In addition, Kenoi on Tuesday paid the county another $7,503.90 in charges and interest attributed to purchases from 2009 to the present that he says were charged in conjunction with official county business. He paid for them in order to err on the side of caution, he said.
Among those payments was $990 to the Sansei Restaurant in Waikoloa, managed by Wille’s 2014 campaign challenger Ron Gonzales. In all, Kenoi had charged $2,387.62 to Sansei over the past four years.
“This certainly confirms the rumor that Gonzales was Mayor Kenoi’s stalking horse on behalf of developers, and it was clearly an attempt to remove Wille from the council,” Hyland said.
Gonzales disputed that assertion.
“Sansei Waikoloa is arguably the busiest dinner restaurant on the island. We have many, many repeat guests and are very grateful for their continued patronage,” Gonzales said in a text message Friday afternoon. “Mayor Kenoi has frequently visited the restaurant. We respect all our guests’ privacy and strive to provide the same quality dining experience for everyone. Mayor Kenoi had nothing whatsoever to do with my recent campaign.”