Hawaii County ethics panel defers Kenoi complaint
The Hawaii County ethics commission Wednesday morning unanimously postponed hearing a complaint about Mayor Billy Kenoi’s purchase-card spending until the state Attorney General finishes a separate criminal investigation.
One of Kenoi’s three Honolulu criminal defense attorneys, Howard Luke, told the three-member commission “I will call it misuse of the pCard.”
The ethics commission members — who were appointed by Kenoi — nevertheless voted to let the A.G.’s investigation run its course before considering the complaint filed by Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland, 76, a retired California jail administrator.
Hyland wants to see Kenoi put in jail for $129,580.73 in charges on his county-issued pCard that included a $1,200 surfboard and $400 spent at the Camelot Restaurant and Lounge hostess bar and $892 at the Club Evergreen hostess bar, which are both located in Honolulu.
Kenoi has publicly apologized twice, taken responsibility and reimbursed the county $31,112.59.
Hyland was furious following the commission’s decision, particularly because he was not allowed to read four pages of testimony via video conference from Kapaau.
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“It’s just ludicrous,” Hyland said. “It’s disgusting. They just said, ‘Hell with you, Lanric. We don’t listen to citizens.’ That’s what the board said today: ‘We let the lawyers talk to us and tell us what to do.’”