Is Mayor Billy Kenoi still donating his $22,848 raise to Hawaii Island United Way?
Kenoi made the generous gesture in 2014 as the county Salary Commission approved the 20.9 percent increase that started July 1 of that year, bringing his annual salary to $132,000.
“I’m not taking a dollar of that raise,” he told a reporter then. “I made that promise, and it’s a promise that I intend to keep.”
After the Tribune-Herald filed a records request, the Hawaii County Finance Department provided Kenoi’s 2014 United Way pledge form authorizing the county to donate $1,000 a month from his paychecks to the nonprofit starting that July.
That’s certainly not a small act of charity from the county’s chief executive.
But it also was the only such record the county could find since the raise, which Kenoi still receives, went into effect.
A hand-written note on the form says “end at 6/30/15,” suggesting the payroll deductions were only good for that fiscal year.
“We sent you all the documents we had to complete your records request,” Finance Director Deanna Sako said in an email late Friday afternoon following an additional inquiry from the newspaper. “We do not show any other contributions in our payroll system. As noted on the form there are other ways to contribute that do not come through Finance.”
Kenoi didn’t refer to the pledge as having a sunset date when speaking with a reporter before the pay increase started.
If the mayor still is donating the raise, he wasn’t quick to take credit.
Kenoi didn’t respond to a detailed text message Wednesday. Voice messages left on his cell phone Thursday and with his secretary Friday also weren’t returned.
United Way officials couldn’t be reached for comment.
In an email, county Controller Kay Oshiro said the amount Kenoi donated during the 2014-2015 fiscal year was based on the mayor’s increase in take-home pay after taxes and other deductions were withdrawn. The donations, totaling $12,000 over 12 months, equal 52 percent of his gross increase in pay.
In response to a similar request made last October, Sako said in an email to a West Hawaii Today reporter that records related to the donation were not considered public. It’s not clear why that position changed.
“The Mayor continued to have contributions to Hawaii Island United Way withheld last fiscal year,” she said in the Oct. 16 response. “We are in the process of signing up for the current year HIUW campaign.”
The county’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.
The start of the 2014-15 fiscal year wasn’t the last time Kenoi referenced his donation pledge.
The embattled mayor, who faces felony theft and other charges for misuse of a county purchasing card, known as a pCard, made note of it again during a March 23 speech to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce &Industry of Hawaii.
That also was the same day he was charged for the alleged theft of county funds.
“I stand here in 2016 in my last year as mayor for the County of Hawaii to tell all of you I would never disrespect our county, disrespect you by taking anything,” Kenoi told the gathering of business leaders in a video posted on the Big Island Video News website.
“… We ask everybody in our administration and cabinet to give. A couple years ago they tried to give me one raise — $23,000. I refused to take it and gave it to the United Way. I don’t make one big deal about it.
“… I never make one press release. Just did ‘em. Because that’s how we grew up.”
His supporters also have leaned on the pledge to counter criticism over Kenoi’s use of his pCard for personal expenses.
On March 29, the Facebook page I Mua Billy Kenoi shared a post saying the mayor two years ago donated his “entire $22,848 pay raise to United Way. No Hawaii politician has ever done that.” It received 143 “likes” and reactions.
Kenoi faces eight charges related to misuse of his pCard following a state investigation. His trial is scheduled for July 18.
The investigation was prompted by a March 2015 report in Big Island newspapers revealing Kenoi used the card to cover an $892 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar in December 2013. The county prohibits use of such cards for personal expenses and restricts their use for alcohol.
Kenoi reimbursed the county four months after he made the charge. The state subsequently revoked his card.
Between January 2009 and March 2015, Kenoi spent about $130,000 with the card, an amount that includes county and non-county expenses.
He paid back $31,112.59 in charges, according to the county, including about $9,500 after the card was revoked.
Kenoi previously said he thought it was OK to use county funds on personal expenses if he paid it back.
Other personal charges on the card include a $1,219.69 surfboard from a Honolulu store; $1,909.47 at a Kailua-Kona bike shop; $78.27 in sportswear at Honolulu Quiksilver; $700 at a Hilo karaoke bar; $566 in Hawaii State Bar Association dues; and an $89.86 garment bag at a Kailua-Kona box store.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
