Hawaii County finance officials had warned Mayor Billy Kenoi several times that his personal purchases on a county credit card were improper, but the spending practice did not stop until December 2013 when he charged $892 at a Honolulu hostess bar, the finance director says.

"There haven’t been those types of purchases since I’ve been the director, and actually for a while now," said Deanna Sako, who served as deputy director until she was promoted to director earlier this year. "Basically, since (Club) Evergreen, there haven’t been any more of those types of transactions," namely "personal or unusual transactions."

"His pCard’s (credit card) been cut up," she said, which occurred this week after West Hawaii Today broke the story Sunday that Kenoi had reimbursed the county in March 2014 for 25 personal charges, including his December 2013 visit to Club Evergreen.

Kenoi said having his card taken away is sufficient punishment for such infractions.

However, the Hawaii County prosecutor and the state attorney general are in talks regarding possible criminal charges for the abuse of a government purchasing card, or pCard, which is strictly for official government business expenses, not for personal goods and services. The county’s pCard manual also restricts the purchase of alcohol unless specifically authorized.

"Whenever he made a personal purchase, he was very forthcoming with that, and he would let their office’s (the pCard) coordinator know that," Sako said in a phone interview Thursday with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

But when it became a practice rather than the exception, Sako said she and then-Finance Director Nancy Crawford spoke to the mayor.

"Basically, we had some discussions with the mayor about not using it for personal use," Sako said.

When asked about his response to these discussions, Sako replied: "I actually wasn’t in the meeting, but I know she (Crawford) talked to him, so I’m not sure."

When asked whether she felt she could not stop the practice, Sako said: "I pretty much left it up to the director to handle."

She said the mayor did not direct her, or anyone else to her knowledge, to allow the practice.

Crawford could not be reached for comment.

Kenoi requested and got approval at the beginning of his first term in December 2008 for a $10,000 credit limit.

The statements from 2009 to 2015 reflect a pattern of lavish spending for drinks, dining and some luxury hotels and appear to show a pattern of frequent flying in any given month. The mayor admitted spending in excess of $100,000 in trips in six years. The statements show he has flown to Honolulu and other local cities, Washington, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Texas, the Philippines and Japan.

Kenoi has frequented hostess bars in Honolulu, charging $400 one night in 2009 at the Camelot Restaurant and Lounge.

Kenoi has also used his card to pay for his $565 Hawaii Bar Association dues, luxury stays at the Marriott Waikoloa Beach for $469 per night, $280 at the Lava Lava Beach Club and $120 at the Kamuela Big Island Brewhaus.

A 1999 memorandum forbids the purchase of alcohol for consumption by county employees or for county functions since it is "an inappropriate use of public funds" and liability issues. The exception is the entertainment of dignitaries by the mayor, the County Council chairman or their authorized representative.

One of his first acts as mayor was attending the presidential inauguration in Washington on the county’s dime, spending $3,392.61 that month on travel, including a stay at the luxury Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, checking in and out the same day.

Kenoi made it a point to travel to communities in West Hawaii and charged those travel expenses as well, including pricy meals and hotel rooms, such as $900 at Kenichi Pacific restaurant in Kailua-Kona or $400 for a day at the Fairmont Orchid on the Kohala Coast.

Kenoi said he paid back $7,500 on Tuesday, reimbursing the county a total of $26,000 in personal and county-related charges, about half for personal charges.

He said Wednesday he thought it was OK as long as he reimbursed the county, despite people in his administration flagging his personal charges. He said he did it because he did not have a personal credit card and claims he paid back personal charges monthly.

The mayor said he flew to Honolulu for official county business (a tea ceremony) the same day he visited Club Evergreen, but would not divulge who he was with or what he paid for.

University of Hawaii political science professors say Kenoi is in a lot of hot water politically and otherwise.

"It appears to be a pattern of abuse of county funds going back to 2009," said professor Colin Moore. "I think it’s pretty clear he was abusing his position. Any other state or county official would have been fired after one or two times. … It’s insulting to voters because it’s so blatant."

He said it will be difficult for him to run for Congress or governor. Kenoi, two years into his second term, faces a term limit. He won a second term in 2012 by a 2 percent margin over former Mayor Harry Kim.

"Although people on the Big Island who know him and like him might be willing to forgive him, now there’s a cloud over him, particularly for people in Honolulu, who are now forming their first impressions and think of this scandal," Moore said.

Professor Neal Milner saw Kenoi as a "bright light in Hawaii politics."

Now "people are going to raise questions about his integrity," he said.

"I’m not saying he was loved by everybody," Milner said. "Some people are going to say ‘he’s too slick for me,’ but he’s still pretty effective. … People are going to wonder if he’s as smart as they thought or as honest as they thought he was."