The May 29 WHT Editorial on Billy Kenoi’s pCard Saga merits revisiting before the primary election. It delineated his breach of public trust through repeated pCard misuse while in office. Kenoi violated ethics codes every time he charged personal items to the credit card, from pricey bar tabs and a surfboard to the fee for his State Bar Association dues.
“The eight-year mayor got caught because WHT reporter Nancy Cook Lauer doggedly pursued the credit card receipts records, which the county wouldn’t share or would try to bluff a response by handing over handcrafted summaries of the expenditures.” That information should be readily available from an accountable Administration. Kudos to Cook Lauer for praise-worthy, tireless persistence that brought the mayor’s misuses to light.
Kenoi claims he didn’t know the rules and restrictions of the pCard, but he would not have been issued a pCard without signing an agreement to use it properly. “The purchasing card program is similar to a credit card, designed to streamline the state and county government’s small purchase payment process. The cards are the property of the government, issued to responsible employees to make official purchases.” Recipients sign a Card Cardholder Agreement stating, “I understand that the use of the pCard to make personal purchases is strictly prohibited and unauthorized. I will not use the card(s), under any circumstances, for personal use.”
Caught red-handed misusing the pCard, Kenoi said he “planned to repay” those charges. When did taxpayers approve an interest-free loan to the mayor?
Kenoi is under indictment on criminal charges, and will be prosecuted. Whether Kenoi is criminally liable will be decided by the courts. But the ethical violations are clear and confessed. He’s “so sorry.” Some say that people will forgive Kenoi, that he still has a chance for higher office. Is this the person we want leading the government at any level in Hawaii? Kenoi should not be governor of Hawaii, the position he aspires to in coming years. He broke the public trust, and tried to bar us from knowing that. He should not ever be a candidate again, let alone an elected official.
Who else should have protected the public trust during Kenoi’s tenure? Attorney General Doug Chin indicated that others who work for the county who might have known that this was going on and didn’t report it should be looked at also. Which brings us to Wally Lau.
Mayoral candidate Lau held the position of the county’s managing director during Kenoi’s spending spree, second in command to the mayor. As managing director, he “doesn’t know” who had oversight of the mayor’s pCard. Lau hedges when asked directly what he himself knew about Kenoi’s activities, and more recently just hasn’t shown up for candidate forums, possibly over-confident in the power of his daunting election war chest. However, at one candidate forum, Lau admitted that he was aware of the activities, but “Billy was my boss,” so he kept quiet. Lau hasn’t demonstrated that he deserves to be the mayor or that he can do the job well. He has shown us how much he follows in Kenoi’s footsteps with his practices, campaign funders and advocates. Kenoi’s coattails taint Lau.
The lack of accountability and absence of checks and balances is mindboggling. We had the fox guarding the chicken coop and then claiming he didn’t know “not to put the eggs in his own basket.” Are we really going to trust another fox in the 2016 election?
Public officials should seek ethical practices, not violate them. We count on our representatives to make sure the government is playing by the rules that the rest of lawful citizens live by and expect from their leaders. And when they don’t, we need to let them know that we mean business about this, and vote our conscience.
As Big Island voters, we want more for our island home, and our own, our children and grandchildren’s future. We deserve better leaders, and our vote can tell them that.
Ruth Smith is a resident of Waikoloa. She is a recently retired DOE educator and school administrator, and had a pCard for authorized usage. Smith has been active in community affairs for the past decade since serving on the Steering Committee for the South Kohala Community Development Plan.