Mayor Billy Kenoi has mixed political activity with his county business at least twice since taking office, according to a comparison of campaign spending reports with his county credit card statements.
On May 26, 2009, shortly after taking office, Kenoi charged county taxpayers $54.03 for a rental car in Honolulu, according to his county purchasing card, or pCard, statement. That’s the same day he spent $176.40 for a “Honolulu meeting w/Omnitrak,” according to his campaign spending report.
There is no flight charge on the county pCard for that day. Nor did Kenoi reimburse the pCard expense, according to a West Hawaii Today analysis of his pCard statements and reimbursement reports.
On Aug. 29, 2011, Kenoi charged $503.72 to his pCard for airfare, hotel and rental car for meetings about solid waste issues with the City and County of Honolulu, as well as a press conference on U.S.-China relations, according to his pCard statement. That same day, campaign records show, he hosted a campaign fundraiser at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Honolulu.
Kenoi reimbursed the county for that expense Friday, as part of $2,055.12 in new reimbursements. The mayor’s office released the new list of reimbursements Wednesday.
Kenoi’s financial records, and pCard use in general, are coming under increasing scrutiny after the newspaper revealed last month that the mayor routinely used his pCard for personal expenses.
So far, he’s paid back $31,112.59 of the $129,580.73 he charged during his tenure.
The Omnitrak Group is a Honolulu market research and political polling firm that in the past contributed to former Honolulu mayor and frequent candidate Mufi Hannemann and current Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. There is no record that Omnitrak contributed to Kenoi’s re-election campaign.
It’s against the county’s ethics code to use county resources for political campaigns. State law requires candidates to report all campaign spending.
Kenoi spokesman Peter Boylan said in an email response to questions, “Due to the ongoing inquiries, we are not going to comment further on this matter.”
Kenoi has hired Honolulu criminal defense attorneys Howard Luke, Todd Eddins and Richard Sing to represent him as the embattled mayor responds to a state attorney general investigation and county ethics charges. He’s promised full cooperation with the ongoing investigations.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
