The trial of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi could be a symbol of many things:

>> The dismantling of good-old-boy-style local politics where the real work of government is done after-hours over pupu and drinks.

>> The inevitable comeuppance of a smart party-boy politician who incorrectly believed that his charm could get him out of any situation.

>> Or perhaps, as some have posited, Kenoi was drawing the envy of certain political peers who saw his potential for higher office and wanted to smack him down before he got too big and too popular.

Or maybe what’s on trial here is … the lomi.

No, see, all Billy Kenoi was trying to do was lomi the situation. That’s the word his attorney Todd Eddins used in his opening statement to describe Kenoi’s habit of buying alcohol. Lomi the hardworking Big Island people who were working hard to make the county more prosperous. Lomi visitors, dignitaries and business connections to strengthen relationships to benefit the island. Lomi his staff to make sure they knew they were appreciated.

Elbert and Pukui’s definition of lomi is “to rub, press, squeeze, crush, mash fine, knead, massage.”

An older word for that sort of political massaging was “hoomalimali,” which means to flatter, cajole, persuade with pretty words or (great metaphor here) tie bait to a line. Maybe Billy Kenoi’s style isn’t just flattering, cajoling and tying bait to a line. Maybe he really gets in there and squeezes.

Never mind Club Evergreen. That’s not even one of the charges. No, poor misunderstood braddah is standing trial for going down to the nearest Longs and buying beer, Crown Royal and pineapple juice for the people who were cleaning up after the Sam Choy Poke Contest. Kenoi was, in his attorney’s words, “lomi-ing these guys.”

Then there was the time visiting dignitaries from Tahiti and the Marquesas were in town for the Tahiti Fete. As Eddins told it, Kenoi had gotten some “omiyage-style” gifts for them, but they, in turn, gave him a precious canoe paddle.

“As the night progresses he’s feeling kind of shame,” Eddins said in his opening argument.” He’s thinking, ‘These guys give me a master paddle, what did I give them?’”

So to remedy this gnawing inequity, Kenoi runs to Longs again to buy better gifts. “Yes, it was alcohol, but the mayor gets to make that kind of call,” Eddins said.

This is, in part, a trial on the mix of alcohol and politics as much as it is about mixed-up, missing and re-created receipts and a lavish, undisciplined entertainment budget. Clearly, Kenoi is defensive about the alcohol.

“He believed that in certain circumstances alcohol served an important government role,” Eddins told the jury. Kenoi’s defense is that he always intended to (and eventually did) pay back the county for every personal expense, but the wining- and- dining tabs were all legitimate expenses for lomi-ing relationships to benefit the Big Island.

Said Eddins, “The government, with all their receipts and everything, doesn’t know anything about people.” And people, as Billy Kenoi sees it, like a good lomi.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.