Billy Kenoi gets a what??

[kalakoa]

Wait for the fat lady to sing.

True: we don't yet know what new "interpretation" will be used to excuse this "exception".

[Johnd]

Billy " Emperor's new clothes" Kenoi, never ceases to amaze me. Having said that the constituency that still find ways to laud him are even more surreal. If this one has not been the sleaziest Mayor in recent memory.....love to watch how his buddies extricate him out of this one, once again.

jdo

[ElysianWort]

Wow, this crook/politician is really in hot water. Much more than just the money spent at that hostess bar. Tens of thousands in personal travel expenses and even another visit at a different hostess bar for $400 more previously unmentioned. How deep does it go? What else is unmentioned? All credibility is lost for Billy now.

[jrw]

Does Hawaii allow recall election. If nothing is done about or mayor legally that could be the next move. He sure has done enough stuff to be recalled.

jrw

[Chunkster]

AFAIK, there is no recall process for mayor of Hawaii County. Too bad.

[HiloPuna]

Jeez, I leave town a couple of weeks and we're suddenly led by Beelzebub who spends all his time in Sodom & Gommorah ! Seriously, you folks are off the charts in your conspiracy oriented, us against them, black / white dualism.
Get a grip.
If Billy was walking around with cash...worry.
If Billy was spending money on an apartment (that his family didn't live in)....worry.
If Billy was having lots of lump sum cash draws.....worry.
If Billy wasn't getting any roads built, parks opened or problems solved.....worry.

He has, apparently to me, made a huge mistake. For whatever reason he has put himself in harms way, if not legally then in the court of public opinion. Why a whip-smart guy with legal training and a lifetime in politics would fall victim to a problem in the accounting department eludes me. He will be brought to a reckoning, the forces in play are beyond his control. I'm on his side though, he's accomplished too much, and has (had?) too bright of a future, to be brought low by such a mundane course of affairs. And that's all I see this laundry list of purchases amounting to, simple day to day purchases with the rare night out. His P-card was overseen and managed by his office, by his Finance department, it's use was based on well known rules that were only affected by policies that he had established.

So....if no law was violated then what he has is an embarrassment of epic proportion based solely on societal expectations that a leader will not have a separate standard for their own behavior. I hope it ends no worse than that. He can survive a humbling because there is no one who has come from humbler circumstances and accomplished more than Billy Kenoi. The man has big ambitions, big skill sets, big appetites, big competitiveness, big heart and big aloha.

He's ended enough of his speeches with the message that if you treat others with aloha, if you work with aloha, if you practice aloha all the time, then only good things can come of it. I wish Billy Aloha. I wish more of you had a wider perspective and could see just how good of a Mayor he has been.

[Guest]

Well the Hawaiian lady that gambled away the keiki 150,000 last year got what kind of punishment? Maybe a slap on the wrist. Our mayor helped raise funds to cover the mess, he also flew his family to florida in support for our island keiki. Really this illigal spending of community funds has now been paid back by our mayor so there is nothing more to see here folks. He will get a pass from his embezzlement habits this time, hopefully he will still want to be our next governor for our island chain. Our keiki watch and learn so close, they learn to be ruthless and how to steal or take like our elected officials do. My sons have been impressed with our resently elected Naole, Blass, and now Kenoi. All local do gooders who know how to make the easy money in a rural farming district. Wondering why the Pahoa A.D Tomosato has not been reinstated yet for his good work over the years towards the keiki in our area of Puna? A saying or word I see from many locals in this area who seem to be proud or proud of where they come from is (IMUA). What does it mean?

[Chunkster]

Local hating? Gimme a break, Ted. Some of the people complaining loudest about Billy are Hawaiians and "locals." It might also be noted that the area that would know him best, the Kalapana/Lower Puna area, voted for his opponent by a substantial margin. Kenoi couldn't support his lifestyle of choice on his $130,000 salary, so he used the county's credit to bridge the gap. He probably won't go to jail for this, but he deserves to be hounded from office. If he really wants to sincerely apologize and make amends, he should resign.

[Guest]

Sorry Ted, I voted for Kim, MarZi, and Lazano. I know they lost! Not trying to start a round of hating, just havent forgot yet. Still not happy about the Ormat county handling or freezing of relocations, expansions, and illegal drilling without the proper health studies done first. The Shove it down our throats, so we no longer will be heard attitude has gotten old of late. So these folks I mentioned seem to play, redirect, or freeze the funds set aside for the poor people wanting to be relocated from this growing industrial area.

[jrw]

Looks like billy is just about done news out today didnt declare is gifts of airline tickets or gifts of any can . Lets see how he talks his way out this.

jrw