Wille’s motion to discuss asking Kenoi to step down rebuffed

After hearing from supporters and critics of embattled Mayor Billy Kenoi, it was the Hawaii County Council’s silence that spoke the loudest Tuesday.

A motion by Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille to have a discussion about whether the council should ask Kenoi to step down pending the outcome of an ethics complaint failed to get a second, ending the conversation before it could start.

For Wille, the quick defeat marked the second time she failed to muster the council to take action against the mayor for his admitted misuse of his county purchasing card, or pCard, which resulted in an indictment of felony theft and other charges following a state investigation. His trial is scheduled for July 18.

Separately, the county Board of Ethics on May 10 will reconsider accepting an ethics complaint Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland filed against the term-limited Kenoi a year ago in regard to the pCard scandal.

Hyland alleges the mayor’s use of his card for personal expenses violates the county’s ethics code.

While several testifiers during the Finance Committee meeting thanked Wille for staying on the issue, she also received brickbats from Kenoi’s supporters who see the mayor as being unfairly targeted.

Myles Miyasato, Hawaii Operating Engineers Industry Stabilization Fund representative, said the council had better things to discuss, such as affordable housing and homelessness.

“It sounds like a personal vendetta,” he said.

Another testifier saw the proposed discussion as “vindictive” and “counterproductive.”

Others said they want to see some accountability and questioned whether county employees would be given the same leniency.

“The best defense people put up today is to delay,” said Richard Turnbull. “This has been delayed long enough.”

Kenoi’s pCard scandal broke in April 2015 when Big Island newspapers reported he used his card to cover an $892 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar in December 2013.

Sarah Allen, state Procurement Office administrator, said she revoked Kenoi’s pCard shortly after the story was published.

Wille, who’s been one of Kenoi’s top critics, had her pCard revoked as well, after she butted heads with County Clerk Stewart Maeda for charges of about $1,000.

She said her charges were good faith county business expenses council leadership disagreed with, rather than personal charges. Officials said Wille also was slow in submitting paperwork.

The mayor reimbursed the county for the bar expense, which occurred despite county prohibitions on using the card for personal expenses and restrictions on alcohol, four months after the charge occurred.

Between January 2009 and March 2015, Kenoi spent about $130,000 with the card for county and non-county expenses.

The mayor, also an attorney, has said he thought it was OK to charge personal expenses — which also included a $1,219.69 surfboard, $1,909.47 at a Kailua-Kona bike shop, $566 in Hawaii State Bar Association fees, among other charges — as long as he reimbursed the county. He previously said he did not have a personal credit card.

While some reimbursements occurred within a matter of days, other charges took months and sometimes years to pay back.

In total, Kenoi reimbursed the county for $31,112.59 in pCard charges, including about $9,500 after his card was revoked.

The delayed reimbursements largely covered food and gas purchases, including restaurant bills as high as $600.

Oversight of his pCard use was in the hands of Kenoi’s deputy managing director, who is the pCard coordinator for the Mayor’s Office, and the county finance director.

Since the pCard scandal broke, the council has not asked the administration to explain what it has done to address the issue.

Finance Director Deanna Sako said in a March 1 email that pCard policies and procedures remained under review.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.