Billy Kenoi indicted today of theft

[sistersue]

I was surprised to see our mayor walking in the parade. He was smiling innocently and waving to everyone. I had to laugh - it looked so bizarre to me! lol

[HiloPuna]

I didn't go to the parade but my worker told me Billy was greeted and cheered, she heard nary an unkind word towards him. Perhaps the PW paradigm doesn't extend to the community at large ?

In so far as the recusal by the sitting judges on the BI....there's another element to consider. After an extensive investigation the particular charges seem kinda manini. If the reality is that there were no crimes committed then the best thing for all concerned to resolve the situation is to come up with some charges (done) and to move towards an acquittal on all charges. This would best be done by as independent a party as could be found. Any acquittal by a BI judge is likely to draw complaints by the same corruption junkies and conspiracy theorists as got us to this place.

[Chunkster]

HiloPuna, I've asked this question before, and I'll ask it again. How do you explain the charges for the surfboard and his state bar association dues? Who was he with at the hostess bar that made it legitimate county business? These are simple questions that you (and Kenoi) obfuscate about. If there were simple, clarifying answers, Kenoi would be shouting them from the rooftops. Still waiting.

[TomK]

"Any acquittal by a BI judge is likely to draw complaints by the same corruption junkies and conspiracy theorists as got us to this place."

I don't think corruption junkies and conspiracy theorists got us into this place, it was Kenoi's inappropriate use of his pcard. Whether he's found guilty or not doesn't really matter in the end, it's his use of tax payers' money that got us here.

[shockwave rider]

In some states they have retired judges who serve as "substitute judges" for judges who are out on sick leave or on vacation and when there are cases that need an outside judge brought in because the local judges all have ties to the defendant, not uncommon in rural areas or small communities. If Hawaii has such a thing this seems like the perfect case for it.

[Chunkster]

Well, this morning's HNL daily says that the charges for the bike, the surfboard, the bar association dues, and the hostess bar(s) are not covered in the indictment. The prosecutors refused to say exactly what was covered, but based on some dates given, the paper said some were likely in Washington, D.C. and several were Big Island food outlets. Kenoi's apologists will declare this a triumph, but there is still a trial to deal with. The link is paid content, but here it is:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/hawaii-new...ndictment/

[birdmove]

I'm still surprised Kenoi is being charged at all, given the number of criminals that seem to get off with a nervous hand slap here on this island. The attitude here that Kenoi is somehow a victim is totally alien to me. He should be out on his butt. And he is a victim because, "They all do it." makes me want to barf. Not saying on this forum particularly, but also in a lot of threads on Facebook. You'd think the man should be given a medal and a big raise.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[HiloPuna]

"...HiloPuna, I've asked this question before, and I'll ask it again. How do you explain the charges for the surfboard and his state bar association dues? Who was he with at the hostess bar that made it legitimate county business? These are simple questions that you (and Kenoi) obfuscate about.....

chunkster,
actually I think you've participated in the Kenoi threads going back to the beginning. The total numbers are out there: $130k in total charges over 6+ years, $23k paid back in real time, presumably on monthly or quarterly reckonings, and $9k+ paid back after the sh*t hit the fan. In earlier threads I speculated the obvious, namely that he used the P-card for his ongoing activities and staff sorted out what was personal and what was related to his being the Mayor. What's so obfuscatory about that? If bar association or surfboards, or liquor, or hostess bars were illegal they would have shown up on the indictment. They didn't . I made the argument months ago that they wouldn't, and they haven't. Their were obvious ambiguities in the interpretation of the P-card, and after the storm hit he clearly made the effort to resolve those areas. Don't know which purchases fell in that $9k hopper so perhaps all of the hot button issues that so upset some of the PW observers fell into that batch. Perhaps none did.


"...Well, this morning's HNL daily says that the charges for the bike, the surfboard, the bar association dues, and the hostess bar(s) are not covered in the indictment...." Yes, see above.

TomK
"....it was Kenoi's inappropriate use of his pcard. Whether he's found guilty or not doesn't really matter in the end...."

I've been arguing the counter, it does matter whether he's found guilty or not guilty. His use of the P-card obviously offends many people, at least those here and who write to the Editor of the Trib. In my social groups it's look at as an embarrassment that he was so careless not to task a higher level staffer to resolve the issues monthly. I don't think many of my friends consider him corrupt or venal. He's the Chief Executive of a very large "business", the largest employer on the Island. He has a lot of people seeking him out, hands extended, with pleas for help, and I'm not talking just subdivisions and county contracts. I'm talking athletic teams, social organizations, schools, communities, business's, and especially individuals in need. He has overseas guests, out-of-town interests visiting, lots of parent company executives coming in to oversee local decisions. He's the Mayor, and he's got a lot going on.

For all the good he's done, managing the County through a bad economy for the first 5 years, after inheriting Harry Kim's version of the Augean Stables, showed discipline and savvy. Not bad for a lawyer who had never managed before. The latest hoopla that the paper is trying to sell is his alleged mismanagement of the bond issues and how it negatively affects the Countys budget. It was a classic in misguidance of the casual reader. The headline, on the front page, and the first few paragraphs, above the fold, were all chicken little hysteria. Deeply buried on page 7 were the facts, but only for the disciplined and critical reader.

Here's Ms Lauers lead;
"A big bond sale last month by term-limited Mayor Billy Kenoi and the County Council will leave the next administration with a heckuva tab to pay....the new bonds will drive up the County's annual debt payments by 19.8%..."
Here's the facts;
The $235.8mm bond was both to cover refinancing of previous bonds as well as the new issuances. This was not reported and could only be inferred. That amount $235mm is app. 65% of our total bond debt of $375mm. This bond issue, when approved by the Council, was originally slated to take the Countys percentage of the budget for debt service from 7.9% to 13.8%. Accepted guidelines (GFOA) suggest prudent levels of 15%, or less. When the Mayor's finance team was finished the percentage of the budget for future debt service will now be just 8.98%. Now thats a headline! So, whoever is the next Mayor has a lot of bonding authority to consider for infrastructure and general improvements, belying Ms Lauers histrionics (as well as some PW'ers).

I bring this up for context, after TomK posited that the disposition of the "P-card affair" may not matter in the end. I think it does, and that, obviously, everything matters. Perception fuels reality. People think our governance is worse than it is, leading to a corrosive cynicism that results in Trumps, Sanders, and Kim's who promise simple solutions appealing to the base. Do I wish Billy Kenoi had been less careless in how the P-card was utilized. Yes, No question about it. Do I think he "betrayed the public trust". No, emphatically. With the ongoing "scandal" the Mayor has suffered, the County as well, and the publics trust most of all. Why? Because of selective release of inflammatory elements of a complex accounting system selected to present the most unflattering aspect that the reporter could manipulate. And well she did. The P-card articles were constructed similarly to the bond article, to everyones detriment.

[ironyak]

While your post is very well articulated HiloPuna it skips over the basic fact that the pCard agreement explicitly forbids its use for ANY personal purchases. There is no need for someone to better "resolve the issues monthly" if he simply followed the rules stated in his signed agreement.

While the mayor is no doubt very busy, he is spending our money supposidly for our collective interests. As such, all expenditures should be clearly explained how it was official business. Apparently the Grand Jury believes several of these meal excursions (and other purchases perhaps) were not work related.

At least the Trib will have plenty to mislead and exaggerate about this summer once a judge is found and the trial gets started.

[pahoated]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chunkster

Well, this morning's HNL daily says that the charges for the bike, the surfboard, the bar association dues, and the hostess bar(s) are not covered in the indictment. The prosecutors refused to say exactly what was covered, but based on some dates given, the paper said some were likely in Washington, D.C. and several were Big Island food outlets.

---

There is no pCard law. It is an agreement between the State and the employee. The only time the law comes in is if some felony was committed with the pCard, like buying drugs or paying a hit man with a pCard (Punatic fools will believe this). Food establishment charges aren't going to be theft. The AG has put together a very weak case and his approach, first with TMT, and now with the pCard, is showing his wobbling knees. The only thing left in the charge is deliberate theft, and theft has to be reported to become a charge. Which one of the patrons that Uncle Billy 'stole' from is filing charges? None, they got paid. So, is the county claiming they were the victims of theft? Haven't seen that anywhere, it is the state filing the charges. The judges are opting out because they know there is no law specifically regarding the pCard and they would face having to construct one, which would be a real can of worms.

But this is Puna and PW, where public lynching is a past time, just like it was in the South during the 60's. We all know only righteous and pure white people are exalted enough to deliver God's justice upon the wicked, the colored and the deserving.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"