Kenoi fails to file gift disclosures

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi on Friday reimbursed his employer an additional $2,000 for past travel purchases on his government-issued credit card, bringing his total reimbursements to more than $31,000, according to his spokes­man.

The latest revelation comes in the wake of more unsettling news about the mayor’s activities.

Since taking office in December 2008, Kenoi has not filed any annual gift disclosure statements, even though the documents he released after the so-called pCard scandal that erupted recently show he received gifts valued at $100 or more — the threshold for requiring reporting.

Kenoi, for instance, had the $3,656 cost of a trip to Japan picked up by the Hawaii Island Visitors Bureau, according to the records, but he did not disclose that on a gift disclosure form. The trip was to discuss an effort to maintain direct flights from Japan to Kona, according to a travel summary Kenoi’s office released Friday evening.

The Hawaii County Board of Ethics, whose members are appointed by Kenoi, will discuss at its May 13 meeting his failure to file the annual gift disclosure statements and whether an investigation of that issue should be pursued, according to Ku Kaha­ka­lau, acting chairwoman for the group.

No complaint had been filed as of Friday on that issue, but the board has the power to initiate investigations on its own, she said.

The panel also will discuss at that meeting a recent complaint filed over Kenoi’s use of his government purchasing card, called a pCard, for personal expenses, such as a $1,200 surfboard and a nearly $900 tab at a Hono­lulu hostess club.

Like with the disclosure matter, the board must decide whether the issue warrants further investigation, Kaha­ka­lau said.

Because of the potential conflict of interest, the board will be advised on both matters by an attorney from the Maui County Corporation Counsel’s Office, rather than one from the counterpart office in Hawaii County.

The question of whether the Hawaii island board should be involved in these cases — given that the members are appointed by the mayor but confirmed by the County Council — could also be raised at the meeting, though Kaha­ka­lau is unsure where that discussion might go, given the uniqueness of this situation.

To complicate matters, the current board barely has a quorum to conduct business. Two of the five seats are vacant — two members’ terms expired since the March meeting — and Kenoi has yet to nominate replacements.

Among the travel expenses Kenoi reimbursed the county for included Hono­­lulu trips in May 2012 to be the guest speaker at a charter school and in May 2014 to be an award presenter at the Na Hoku Hano­­hano Awards, according to Kenoi’s travel summary.

Regarding the gifts that must be reported on the disclosure forms, it’s not clear how many there are and what the total value is because the mayor still is going through the records, his spokes­man, Peter Boylan, said.

Asked why the mayor has not reported any of the gifts previously on the annual forms, Boylan wrote in an email, "The gift disclosures have not been filed but we are working to address this."

The pCard controversy has engulfed Kenoi since West Hawaii Today first disclosed nearly two weeks ago his use of the credit card for personal expenses, including an $892 tab at Club Evergreen in Hono­lulu.

County and state rules clearly prohibit using pCards for personal use.

Kenoi, an attorney, has told reporters he thought such practices were OK as long as he paid the county back, and acknowledged using poor judgment in the matter.

Nearly $10,000 of the $31,112 in personal and county-related expenses that Kenoi has paid back came after the initial stories broke in the press, according to the county. More than $7,000 was reimbursed just two days after the initial story was published, and $2,055 was paid back Friday to cover travel expenses, the county said.

Since taking office, Kenoi had racked up $129,580 in purchases on the credit card — a new figure reported by the county Friday. It previously reported a lower total.

Some of the purchases included stays at luxury hotels, a bicycle and Kenoi’s Hawaii State Bar Association dues for 2013.

Kenoi is facing a possible criminal probe by the state attorney general over his pCard spending, though that office had not made a decision Friday on whether to pursue one.

Although the latest revelations likely will intensify calls by Kenoi’s critics for his resignation, Boylan said there have been no discussions about whether the mayor should step down.

While day-to-day oversight of Hawaii County’s 200-plus pCard holders rests with the county, Sarah Allen, administrator of the State Procurement Office, which has broad administrative responsibility for the state­wide program, said her agency canceled Kenoi’s account Tuesday after her office became aware through the media coverage of the personal purchases he was making.

Allen’s office has only one employee devoted to managing the statewide program, which is designed to streamline small government purchases for state and county agencies. Given the limited resources, her office has delegated day-to-day oversight responsibility to the individual agencies.

More than 5,000 state and county employees have pCards statewide.

The action involving Kenoi’s card was the first time Allen’s office has canceled an account for making personal purchases since she took on the administrator job in November 2013. "It’s completely and totally rare for us," Allen told the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser, though she noted that accounts are routinely canceled when employees retire, change jobs or for other reasons not related to abuse.

Allen said the program has worked well and has resulted in multiple benefits to the state, including significant rebates, increased efficiencies through reducing purchase orders and other advantages.

She said the Kenoi example was an isolated one.

"We feel this program is really working," Allen said.