Reports of Billy Kenoi’s demise might be greatly exaggerated.
Do not count this man out. An indictment is bad but it is not a conviction, and this man is brilliant at pulling himself out of bad situations. In fact, it is one of the things people love about him, one of the keys to his success — he screwed up but he made something of himself. His is a story of hard work and redemption, and there’s a chance that it will now move from anecdote to epic.
This is not the first time that Kenoi has been on the wrong side of the law.
In one of his lesser-known but possibly most dynamic speeches, Kenoi told an audience of men at the 2006 Aha Kane gathering about his 1989 arrest for growing marijuana.
“I went into farming … but wasn’t taro,” he said, charming the audience with his picaresque tone. “Next thing you know … I wen’ get caught in Green Harvest. Lock up.”
Kenoi famously turned his life around. At 19 he entered community college, bringing with him his rock-bottom 1.8 GPA from high school. He scrabbled his way to the University of Hawaii at Hilo and then the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He attended the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law and was selected graduation speaker for his class.
The stuff he has admitted to and apologized for — using his government-issued pCard for purchasing personal items and then reimbursing the county — is no way to handle finances, and every employee trusted with the company credit card knows that. What’s detailed in the indictment that goes beyond careless account-keeping and questionable business-meeting venues will have to be adjudicated.
But don’t count him out.
There is no one else in the political bullpen. There is no up-and-comer in Hawaii who can move, inspire, challenge, lead, entertain and make you believe like Kenoi. David Ige can barely keep people awake when he speaks. Kirk Caldwell sounds like he’s rehearsed too much in front of a mirror. Mark Takai, Mazie Hirono, Brian Schatz … none of them can make you laugh until you cry and, in the next moment, spit a string of statistics and quotes from Maya Angelou and Kamehameha without notes and with perfect inflection. Kenoi’s back story of a Kalapana childhood with lau hala mat floors and hand-me-down football shoes beats Tulsi Gabbard’s vague personal history in measures of transparency and hard knocks.
Billy Kenoi can stand in front of any audience, both hands gesturing wildly, and make them believe in dreams: “No such thing as ‘no can.’ Always can. The only thing you gotta figure out is HOW can. Because ALWAYS can. … Any obstacle, hurdle or barrier is just meant to go over, around or through.” With this as his theme, Mayor Kenoi has seen Hawaii island through a lava crisis, dengue crisis, hurricane crises and now this crisis of his credibility.
Billy Kenoi is not a punchline. Billy Kenoi is a work in progress. Don’t count him out.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
