Big Isle mayor to appear before Ethics Board

The complaint against Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi over misuse of his county-issued purchasing card will go before the county Board of Ethics on May 13, when three Kenoi appointees will consider options against the mayor and his finance director.

The complaint was filed by Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland, 76, a retired jail administrator who wants to see Kenoi removed from office and put behind bars for billing taxpayers more than $129,000 in "pCard" purchases during his two terms as mayor beginning in December 2008.

Kenoi spokesman Peter Boylan said Kenoi expects to appear at the Board of Ethics meeting, scheduled for the County Council chambers in Hilo.

Kenoi has publicly apologized twice, taken responsibility and reimbursed the county $31,112.59 after racking up $129,580.73 on his pCard, spending that included a $1,200 surfboard and tabs at Oahu hostess bars — $400 at the Camelot Restaurant and Lounge and $892 at Club Evergreen.

In his petition to the county Board of Ethics, Hyland called Kenoi a "common thief" who "has stolen thousands of dollars from the taxpayers."

Hyland wrote, "I want to see him spend time in prison for the felony offenses which he committed."

While it is up to the state attorney general to decide whether there’s a criminal case against Kenoi, the three-member board has several options.

It can defer hearing Hyland’s petition until the outcome of the AG’s investigation.

The board, as it often does, might also discuss the petition against Kenoi and Finance Director Deanna Sako, whose office proc­essed Kenoi’s expenditures, in executive session — meaning behind closed doors.

By law the Board of Ethics must notify the public on its agenda by Thursday whether it intends to go into executive session, said Rod Antone, Maui County spokes­man. To avoid an apparent conflict of interest, Maui County’s corporation counsel is advising the Hawaii County board.

"They can go into executive session," Antone said. "But if they do, they will have to put their intention on the agenda."

Any decisions made in executive session would have to be announced in public.

Or the board can take a cue from Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth, who cited a conflict of interest and asked the state attorney general to investigate any possible criminal wrongdoing by Kenoi.

The board’s newest member, Kenneth Goodenow, a former Hawaii County clerk who is also an attorney, declined to speculate on what the board might do May 13.

"While many people have asked me or voiced opinions, I’ve consistently said that it’s not appropriate to discuss the matter at this time," Goodenow said.

Acting Chairwoman Ku Kaha­ka­lau did not respond to requests for comment. Board member Doug­lass Adams could not be reached.

University of Hawaii-Hilo political science professor Todd Belt said he expects no bombshells to come out of the Ethics Board’s review of the complaint, especially after most of the nine-member County Council praised Kenoi and his administration after the mayor apologized for his pCard spending before the Council on April 22.

"We don’t usually have too many politically ambitious people on those commissions," Belt said. "I don’t see anybody trying to make a name for themselves out of it."

The attorney general’s criminal investigation could give Kenoi a reprieve with the county Ethics Board members, who could defer action until the attorney general acts, said Dan Mollway, former executive director of the state Ethics Commission.

"They have the discretion to say that under the circumstances, the attorney general’s office should handle it," Mollway said. "There’s room for discretion."

Councilwoman Margaret Wille, the lone Kenoi critic on the Council over his pCard spending, said she would hardly be surprised if the Ethics Board fails to act.

"Here are individuals who were selected by the mayor," she said.

"An ethical violation means you did something counter to our county code, and it does appear he did something against our county code," Wille added.

According to the County Charter, Kenoi faces no stiffer penalty than removal from office.

Hyland, who retired as an administrator for the Santa Clara County Jail in Cali­for­nia, said he hopes the board takes action on his complaint.

"I don’t want the mayor to get away with what he’s doing," Hyland told the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser.

"Where does the buck stop?" Hyland said. "We’ve got a prosecutor that doesn’t want to prosecute, a corp counsel that doesn’t want to counsel and now an ethics board that doesn’t …"

He didn’t finish the thought.

"I just want somebody, somewhere to hold the mayor accountable."

In his complaint, Hyland alleges that Kenoi and Sako, the finance director, violated several passages of the county Code of Ethics, beginning with the requirement that "elected and appointed officers shall demonstrate the highest standard of ethical conduct so that the public may have trust and confidence in the integrity of the government."

After citing several more sections of the Code of Ethics that prohibit conflicts of interest and using official positions for special privileges or services, Hyland wrote that Kenoi and Sako should be fired.

"Both the Mayor for so flagrantly and constantly using the pCard, and Finance Director Deanna Sako, for … allowing him to do so (i.e., not canceling his pCard), have been in gross violation of ‘the highest standards of ethical conduct,’" Hyland wrote.