Mayor Billy Kenoi testified during his own criminal trial Wednesday that he made personal purchases on his Hawaii County credit card but denied trying to steal public funds. ADVERTISING Mayor Billy Kenoi testified during his own criminal trial Wednesday that
Mayor Billy Kenoi testified during his own criminal trial Wednesday that he made personal purchases on his Hawaii County credit card but denied trying to steal public funds.
“I would never do anything fo’ hurt this island, hurt this county,” said Kenoi, wearing a white dress shirt and black suit. “I’m offended to even be accused.”
The long-awaited testimony capped the end of witness examination in his trial on theft and false swearing charges for alleged misuse of the county credit card, known as a pCard. Closing arguments will be held Monday in Hilo Circuit Court.
Kenoi, known for his charisma, spoke at length about his own life story, describing his humble upbringing in Kalapana and journey to becoming the county’s chief executive.
“It makes you humble,” he said of his childhood, while under examination by his own defense. “You know what it feels like to grow up without much.”
This testimony appeared to resonate with members of the jury, some of whom laughed or smiled as he shared anecdotes about his family life and some of his struggles paying for law school. During a recess, he appeared to be looking at old family photographs he kept in a pocket.
“They (his parents) always taught me to work hard,” he said, while choking up. “… ‘The harder you work, the better you are going to be, boy,” Kenoi recalled being told.
More than a dozen of Kenoi’s family and friends sat in the courtroom gallery behind the defense table. Abigail Kawananakoa, an heiress to the Campbell Estate fortune, joined them.
Kenoi was more curt under cross-examination as state Deputy Attorney General Kevin Takata went through each transaction, purchase by purchase.
The state based its charges on 15 pCard transactions totaling $4,129.31 from 2011-14 that it argues were personal expenses or didn’t include receipts. Kenoi reimbursed 14 of them. The reimbursements occurred between four and 26 months after the transactions took place.
Prosecutors say the payments happened in response to records requests submitted by West Hawaii Today reporter Nancy Cook Lauer. As a result, many of the purchases were left off a summary of pCard transactions the county provided her in lieu of the records.
“If you’re reimbursing, you are taking responsibility for that purchase,” Kenoi said. “It may not be disclosed. You’re paying for it; taxpayers are not paying for it.”
His pCard transactions came under scrutiny in March 2015 after Cook Lauer reported the mayor used the card to cover a nearly $900 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar. The transaction, which sparked the state’s investigation and the loss of his pCard, was reimbursed and is not part of the criminal case.
Cook Lauer testified last week the article was based on a copy of Kenoi’s pCard records that was provided by an anonymous source. The county began releasing the pCard documents after the story was published.
Kenoi defended many of the purchases in the indictment, including the ones he paid back. He claimed they were clearly county expenses, even if they involved alcohol, and that his staff told him there was no need for him to reimburse.
Still, Kenoi, who said he paid back personal transactions as soon as he could, acknowledged that one of his senior staff members asked him to halt using the card for non-county expenses in 2013.
“I said, ‘Cool,’” the mayor testified. “First time somebody told me to not try to make any personal purchases. I said, ‘No problem.’”
Of the 15 transactions, there was one that Kenoi couldn’t recall and another that he said was clearly a personal purchase.
The latter involved a two-night stay at Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel for a nephew as a wedding present.
“Absolutely, I did,” Kenoi said, when asked if he charged the $292.60 expense to his pCard.
“I acknowledged that as soon as it happened — ‘Hey, it’s a personal purchase, it’s on me.’ I never tried to pass it off, I never did claim I was over there for some conference or something else. I said, ‘Hey, it’s a miscellaneous purchase, I get ‘em.’”
His staff would flag expenses as “miscellaneous” if they were considered personal.
But the reimbursement didn’t occur until months later.
“So this admitted personal expense, this wedding gift, was repaid 250 days after using the pCard?” Takata asked, after citing records of the reimbursement.
“That’s correct,” Kenoi responded.
That payment also coincided with a records request made by Cook Lauer, according to Takata.
The mayor said he couldn’t recall the purpose of a $181.60 transaction at the Kailua-Kona Huggo’s restaurant in October 2011. He said he spoke at an event that day.
“It could have been a lot of things,” Kenoi said. “There was a lot going on that day.”
The transaction summary for that charge was left blank.
Kenoi defended alcohol purchases and taking the family of the CEO of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to lunch at the Volcano House restaurant.
He said he purchased alcohol with the pCard to network with other officials and to show appreciation for volunteers at local events.
“You take some shots? You want something? I’ll be right back,” Kenoi recalled telling volunteers at the Sam Choy’s Poke Contest in 2013.
“I had one drink with them, talk story, laugh, say, ‘Thank you for everything,’” Kenoi said while explaining a $125.95 transaction at Longs Drugs. Prosecutors say liquor and beer were purchased hours after the event ended.
The defense has argued the county code authorizes the mayor to purchase alcohol with county funds. Prosecutors say the code doesn’t mention alcohol.
Kenoi acknowledged his signature on a receipt for a $600 bill at Clyde’s restaurant in Washington, D.C., though it was hard to decipher. The bill only included alcohol, according to prosecutors.
He said he bought drinks for congressional staff members after they invited him out for the evening.
Kenoi said at the time the county was still hurting from the Great Recession and it was crucial that he build relationships with people at the Capitol, particularly after the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye, who chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee.
He claimed that approach helped the county get a large share of stimulus funds compared to other counties in the state.
“We’re going to talk story and have fun, too. Make memories, ” Kenoi said. “It’s how you build relationships, it’s how you maintain relationships.”
The mayor also made large alcohol purchases during events related to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
That practice was defended by two staff members of the organization who also testified.
David Gatton, one of the group’s advisers, said it’s normal for members to meet for drinks afterward.
“Often the discussions you have outside the program are as interesting and informative as the formal program is,” he said, adding that’s when the mayors discuss political and legislative strategy.
Gatton and David Burns, the group’s director of technology and innovation, said Kenoi was instrumental in helping to save the federal community development block grant program following the recession. They attributed that to his relationship with Inouye and his ability to connect with others.
At the end of Kenoi’s testimony, defense attorney Todd Eddins went through most of the purchases individually asking the mayor if it was a legitimate county expense and how he paid for it.
“Yes, this was an expense that was for public purposes,” Kenoi said, regarding one of the purchases. “There was no need to make payment.”
Asked by Eddins where the money came from, Kenoi replied, “My family.”
Kenoi is charged with two counts of second-degree theft, two counts of third-degree theft and one count of false swearing.
Judge Dexter Del Rosario dropped three counts of tampering with a government record due to lack of evidence.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
