Putting booze on island’s tab OK, court told

HILO >> The architect of Hawaii County’s purchasing card — or pCard — program testified in Mayor Billy Kenoi’s corruption trial Tuesday that Kenoi had broad leeway over his spending, including purchasing alcohol, as long as it was in the best interest of the county.

William Takaba, 69, served under 11 Hawaii island mayors, including four years as Kenoi’s managing director. He answered “yes” or “right” on the witness stand in response to a series of questions by Kenoi attorney Todd Eddins about whether Kenoi could “spend funds as he deems fit … under law,” including purchases for alcohol.

Asked by Eddins what would happen if Kenoi could not provide a receipt for his expenditures, Takaba said, “He would pay far above and beyond what he was required to pay. … He was very generous with his own money in paying county expenses that he didn’t need to pay.”

Takaba created the pCard program in 2003, he testified, and he said that Kenoi had an entertainment budget of $15,000 and another $6,000 budget for legislative entertainment.

Asked by Eddins whether Kenoi ever made personal purchases on his pCard, Ta-kaba said yes and later added, “If it’s personal it probably didn’t have a public purpose. He would call it to my attention whenever he did that.”

Takaba testified that personal purchases should be repaid “timely” to the county.

“Ideally, it should be right away,” Takaba said. “That’s the way the rules are written. Ideally, you’d like to get it within 30 to 60 days, but there’s no law that requires him to do that.”

Takaba was followed on the witness stand by former state Rep. Tommy Waters and Oceanic Time Warner Cable employee Shirley Cheung, who testified separately that Kenoi picked up the tab at a Japanese restaurant and bar near the University of Hawaii in 2013 where sake was consumed.

Both Waters and Cheung said Kenoi was interested in expanding broadband technology to Hawaii island.

“I think Billy wanted to find out who were the bigwigs in Oceanic and who he needed to talk to to bring Oceanic to the Big Island,” Waters said.

Cheung said in her testimony that Kenoi “mentioned he was working on the broadband issues on the Big Island and wanted an inside look at the issues.”

The fifth day of Kenoi’s trial began Tuesday when celebrity chef Sam Choy added an air of levity that had even Judge Dexter Del Rosario smiling at times.

Kenoi’s 2013 purchase of liquor for volunteers for Choy’s annual poke festival is at the center of one of the five remaining criminal charges against the mayor.

On Monday, Del Rosario dismissed three misdemeanor charges accusing Kenoi of tampering with government records.

Choy entered Del Rosario’s Third Circuit Court room and immediately mugged for the television pool camera, then grinned at jurors, who smiled back.

Asked about his education, Choy said he attended “Last Chance College” on Oahu, “or LCC” — Leeward Community College.

At one point, as jurors and court watchers laughed, Choy apologized to the court. “Sorry to be funny,” Choy said. “I know this is serious stuff.”

Choy said he met Kenoi the first time at a McDonald’s, followed by a trip to Costco because — the chef said to laughter — Choy likes the deal on Costco’s hot dogs and soda.

Choy talked about how Kenoi supported his poke contest and even entered as a celebrity chef before Choy deadpanned to laughter, “He didn’t win.”

Several times during his testimony, Choy bolstered the defense’s position that Kenoi had the discretion to buy meals and liquor to help build relationships that would benefit the Big Island, especially economically.

“When I saw Mayor Kenoi there, I knew the volunteers would be taken care of because that’s his DNA,” Choy said.

At the annual Merrie Monarch hula festival, Choy said, “Billy went and got food and asked people to come and help. That’s the hottest ticket to go to — the after-party. That’s the thing that makes him a champion. Nobody ever looks at that, nobody ever sees that.”

“We’re not the sharpest knives in the drawer,” Choy said, “but without volunteers at any kind of event, it never happens.”

Testimony is scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. today. Closing arguments are expected to be heard Monday.